The Old Folk's Sociable Tryouts

Since moving to Grantsville we have learned a bit of new terminology that you need to know if you want to live here and be a real part of the community. We first moved here 3 years ago and moved in right about the time that everyone was talking about the "Old Folk's Sociable." We had no idea what that was and when people would ask if we were going we would just tell them no and didn't think much about it.

Well, the next year we decided that we had better attend because people were making such a big deal about it and we invited my brother, Jared and his wife Casi, to join us. I have to admit it is really a fun thing. It's all over at the high school and they have a very nice dinner (prime rib and other options) and a great program in the auditorium (there are 2 performances of the same show) and then big band dancing afterwards. If you are over 70 and are from Grantsville you are considered VIP's and everyone makes a fuss over you. You are welcome to come if you are over 18 years of age and we have enjoyed it the two years that we have now gone.

It is a tradition that was started by Brigham Young and Grantsville is one of the only cities in Utah that has carried on in the tradition since that time. People make a big deal about it and the whole community is involved in some way or another. There is even a Children's Sociable, which is basically a big talent show for kids. They have to try out and be accepted to be in it then they get to perform once during the day for all of the Elementary school kids and once in the evening for parents and anyone else who wants to come.

Well, it's "Sociable" time again and this year Gabby was asked to be in a dance group with 5 other girls ages 5 and 6. They have been practicing for a month now, a few times a week and they just had tryouts yesterday. A girl in my ward did all the choreography and props and took care of everything. She did really great!

Gabby was most excited about her new costume. I uploaded their tryout performance for you to see HERE. This was their first time on the super slippery floor with their tap shoes though and there were some slides and falls. I guess it didn't matter too much because we found out late last night that their group made it (out of 69 other groups/individual performances). Gabby would have been fine either way, but she is excited to get to perform it again on stage. Way to go Gabby!

Oh, by the way, Bump was asked to be in the program for the adults this year singing a Frank Sinatra song. He isn't too thrilled, but he will be great! Anyone want Sociable tickets?

Shower Demo

Last year our shower started leaking. You know, just one of those annoying little drips that isn't a big deal, but you know that it is wasting water and when your shower isn't perfect (which ours never has been since we bought the house) you worry about water sitting in the shower. So, I set out to surprise Bump around Father's Day and thought I would fix the leak. Not a big deal right? I researched online, bought the needed parts and dug in. About an hour later I realized that I could not take apart the valve that should have been "so easy to do." I decided to be smart and wait for Bump to get home and help me - so much for the surprise.

Well, he couldn't get the part removed either and ended up getting frustrated and tried to force things the way that they shouldn't be forced and bent the copper tube too much and made a small hole where the hot water comes into the valve. Then he stopped and said he was finished. The next day I figured out a way to remove the inner workings, but the damage had been done. Luckily I was able to JimmyRig things so that we could at least turn the bathroom's cold water back on and use the sink and toilet. The not water has been turned off in that bathroom for about a year now. Fun huh?

Again, I decided to surprise Bump (this time for his Birthday in November) and called an old friend/cousin by marriage/Elder from my mission, who is a plumber, to come and fix the shower. He came and after about 3 hours of trying several options (including soldering that would not hold!) he said that we would need to remove a big hunk of our wall to get at the plumbing (which was done wrong initially, by the way, that's why the big hunk of wall is needing to be removed). I told him to hold off because I have wanted to re-do the entire shower since we moved in anyway and why tear up the wall right then when we would be doing it eventually anyway. Make sense? He didn't charge me anything and gave me a quote to come back when we were ready for him down the road. No Birthday present for Bump that day. :( Poor guy!

Well, tax season is here and we are getting a decent return. We are tired of having only one working shower in the house when there is one just sitting there waiting to be fixed, so we have begun the shower remodel.

Bump tapped on a wall a bit with the hammer and when he broke through it smelled so much like mold - and the house is 100 years old so who knows what you are dealing with - so he decided to be very cautious and went and got a special mask rated for mold and lead. This is what we first uncovered. Hello exterior wall and you can see the mold on the liner and on the drywall behind the tiles.

Bump with his cute mask.

We ended up keeping the door shut most of the day and the window opened. Bump moved the big garbage can right outside the window so he could just throw the debris right out and not take it through the house. He took out several layers (tile, green board, older drywall and plaster) and took it right down to the studs, or lack of studs if you look at that exterior wall.

And this is what it looks like right now. I hung up the shower curtain to try to keep the kids from wanting to play in there. He even took out the nasty liner and broke up the old concrete base which wasn't done right and was very uneven creating puddles in our shower. Everything is very nice now and ready for the next steps.
Here is the cursed valve on the left and the outside 100 year old wall for you to look at and enjoy.
The plumber comes on Tuesday to get everything fixed right with a whole new valve, copper tubes, etc. Then we need to hang up new green board. Then the Cultured Marble people will come for a final measurement and they will be installing a new cultured marble base, surround and trim. It will be so sleek and nice and won't have any grout to clean or worry about if it's leaking or not. I will keep you posted on our journey. I am just glad that we are finally on it. :)

BYU Basketball

Last month my sweet brother, Jared, gave us 4 tickets to the BYU vs TCU Basketball game. I had school that night and couldn't go, so Bump took his dad, Gabby and Corban. They had a fantastic time watching the cougars win!

And they had a chance to see Jimmer Fredette play an amazing game!

Be my Valentine

I thought that this was perfect for Valentine's Day. I got together with my brothers and sisters for a combined January Birthday party/House warming at my sister's new house. While we were there my niece, Kaylea, was talking about how she needed to answer a boy who had asked her to Prom and wondered if anyone had any ideas. Not only were people full of ideas, but it turned into the following pictures:

My brother's, Lee and Jared, dressed up as Cupid and went to the poor boy's house and sang to him for Kaylea. My brother-in-law recorded it and they posted it on my sister's facebook profile HERE. I don't know if you have to be friends with her to watch it or not, so hopefully you can see it. Either way, it was so funny and so fun for them to do it for Kaylea. What great (crazy) uncles!

Happy Valentine's Day! Hopefully these cupids don't come and visit you!

Gabby's Haircut

Back in October Casi took Gabby in for the cutest haircut. Well, it's a few months later and it's grown out enough that she needed another hair cut. So, I took her to Amanda (our neighbor and Gabby's old primary teacher). Gabby got her own magazine to look at and a Sprite to drink, she thought she was in heaven. She just looks too cute with this cut and I think we'll stick with it for awhile.

The Cone of Shame

This is Fin. He just turned 10 months old and is a little bit out of control. He is big, but still a puppy with lots of energy. Well, this Thursday he had a little surgery at the vet's office.

And for any of you that have seen the Disney movie "Up" you'll appreciate that our kids have been asking why Fin has to wear the "Cone of shame." He has been completely driving me nuts with this cone and I have bruises on the back of my legs where he keeps slamming into them with it. He topples kids and bar stools over and it's not very fun! Yesterday we finally got to take the cone off and Fin is doing really well. I am just so glad that it's over and he's all healed up.