Overdue for a replacement

The Pentastar 3.6 is famous for developing a leaking oil cooler around 80-100,000 miles.  Mine was at 110K and leaking.  So, this past weekend, I dug into the engine and replaced it.  Wasn't too hateful of a job.  I had a mechanic friend help me out.  He knew the shortcuts we could take, what to be careful with, and was an extra set of hands.  It took us about an hour and a half.  Then I did an oil change, tire rotation, lube job, and inspection.  

Cool new race car coming…

This is the concept for Matt's next vehicle.  It's cool that they sketched up his new desert racing concept.  

A big fight broke out 🤪

All the Cincinnati area mascots played a game of broom ball during one of the period breaks.  A big brawl even broke out.  The crowd loved it!

how big they are…?!

You don't realize how big these wheels are until you try and fit one in the back of another vehicle!

Doesn’t look quite right?

I have a new spare on order… In the meantime, I'm running around with a missing wheel on the back end.  Julie doesn't think it looks quite right, in fact, she thinks it looks naked, or incomplete.  I tend to agree, hahaha.  It is lighter on the back end and tailgate for sure.  

We were speechless at how great the rings turned out!

John planned it out, thought through what Savannah would like, and mocked it up for Thuan.  Then he planned how he was going to pop the question too.  It was hard to have the necessary patience!

In the end it all worked perfectly.  Savannah was surprised, pleased, and the ring was "exactly what she wanted and better than she imagined".  Welcome to the family "officially" 🥰

We even managed to have some gold left

Thuan goes through a laborious process of melting, purifying, and casting the heirloom gold to maximize the beauty, durability, and value of the rings he makes from it.  Most shops just give you the street value and send it out for melt.  They don't actually use it in your rings, or give you the full value. We have a couple stones from Steve's wedding band for future use too. :)

A few weeks later, Julie joined us.

Another lunch date with John.  This time to pick up the rings 💍 It was fun to be scheming around behind Savannah's back 🤪 All the time, she thought Johnny was dragging his feet and not making any progress on their plans.  He did a good job of playing it cool. That was until he actually had the rings, then he wanted to run home and propose right away! But he knew he had to stick to his plan and make it special. 

Early January

John and I made a lunchtime visit to our favorite jeweler at ACT.  He's a fun guy and can craft whatever you'd like! By the time we finished deciding what he wanted, and came back to put it in motion, Thuan was hugging John since we was happy to see him again and excited to be part of John's plans.

Back in July and August…

You might remember me posting some pics of past wedding bands and such.  That was about the time that John had starting asking questions about getting married, discussing options, planning for the future, and wanting to see the rings we had offered if they decided they wanted to go that route.  It was a fun summer of coffee and food dates, walks, and discussions.  This is my current band Julie got me.  Johnny has always liked the row of stones, and wanted a pic as we was thinking about what he might want in a ring.  ❤️

The announcement! The date is set too!

The set up this cute pic to tell the family their news.  I loved it!

They are getting married on March 19, this year! We couldn't be happier.  That sounds fast, but it's been in the works for quite a while.  Now things are falling into place and they are rolling with it❣️

The rings turned out great!!

John bought her stone (top hand) and designed the gold band to go along with it.  Then our jeweler friend hand crafted it.

The stones in his ring (bottom hand) are from Julie's grandma on her mom's side.  The setting and band were made from a custom wax mold and then hand finished.  

The gold is all from other family pieces including Julie's Dad's wedding band, a necklace of her mom's, and one of Julie's old rings.  It all turned out great, saved them some money, and has great sentimental value❤️

They are using them as "all-one-rings". They will serve as both engagement and wedding rings for each of them.  A cool idea!

We even managed to have enough remaining gold, and other rings (my original wedding bands for example) in case anyone else ever needs them)…

Guess who’s engaged??!!

John and Savannah! 

This is Julie and me on FaceTime finding out it's official!  It was down to the last minute whether he was going to be able to pull it off or not.  He was trying to surreptitiously recreate a fun early dating moment of SpeedWay, hot chocolate, snow, and a parking lot.  It worked, and she said yes! We're thrilled for both of them and happy to them taking this next step in their lives.  Our daughter in-love is set to become our daughter in-law :)

And speaking of weddings… What’s this?❣️

The lighted box was a perfect finishing touch to these custom crafted rings made using gold and stones from family wedding bands and some from Julie's mom's rings…

Ivan’s wedding pics are in!

This was a pretty fun day for all involved.