What we did for Thanksgiving

Troy has been eying the three-D printers for a long time and finally bought one.  I am very excited about this because one of the eight wheels on the bottom rack of the dishwasher is missing.  Every night there is the crash of dishes as it derails and the cries of Wyatt in frustration.  

Tristan is designing a blimp.  The first thing off the printer was a little chess guy with a sword, then a model airplane.  Troy is offering a prize to whomever can design and build a wheel that works.  The prize will be points towards video game time.  

It came in a box the size of a 5-pound bag of sugar and weighed even more than that. 

Putting it together took three days, including freezing the rods to shrink them that tiny fraction so they fit into their housings.  I thought it would use the little plastic pellets that are manufactured in my hometown of Odessa, but instead, it uses a spool of plastic thread.

Here's a bonus shot of Winston mashing the potatoes for Thanksgiving.  One guest was from Minnesota, but her husband is Spanish and they have lived here for 30 years.  She was so happy to have the childhood memories that the smell of turkey brought back.  Plus, she thought the kids were just too cute.  She didn't see anything ready when she got here, but then magically the table was set and the food was out.  She said I was relaxed and Tristan was helpful, offering, "Let me take that." I wouldn't have noticed if she hadn't said anything. 

I'm thankful!