Ethan's New Savings Bank

Well, I'm happy to say by Sunday we were all on the mend. Ethan's appetite and energy were both almost back to normal and we hadn't had anyone throw up in over 24 hours. Yay! So after Matt went to his usual Sunday study session, we packed up our little family of three and made our way over to the Rio Grande Arts and Crafts Festival. It was a close call if we were going to be able to make it at all (with all the sickness going around our house), but with everyone feeling better we figured a little outing would do our family good. It was also a gorgeous day, so after the arts and crafts festival we even took Ethan to the big playground to run around and "blow some stink off" as my mother would say.

The festival had over 200 vendors and they were each so talented in their own way. We saw a ton of artists with gorgeous wall pieces and also a lot of jewelry makers. I definitely want a piece of silver and turquoise jewelry from my time in New Mexico, but nothing really struck my fancy at the festival. However, there was one vendor that completely caught my attention yesterday. The company was The Knothole, Inc. and they make U.S. Post Office door coin banks. I'd never seen anything like these banks before (and I've pretty much grown up at craft fairs/antique stores/flea markets/etc.). Matt and I decided we had to get one for Ethan. He might be a little too young to appreciate the bank now, but hopefully when he's older he'll think it's as cool as we thought it was when we bought it for him.

So basically when old Post Offices renovate, this guy buys the doors from the mailboxes and then converts them into coin banks. He had all different sizes and different lock systems. We loved this one in particular for several reasons:  1) it had a double dial combination lock (some of them just had single dials and some had keys); 2) it had a glass window (most of the smaller ones didn't have windows on them); and 3) of course, the number!  Number 12 has a dual special meaning for us because it represents 2012 (the year Ethan was born) and #12, which was Kev's jersey number. Each bank also comes with a note stating where the particular door came from and how old the door type is.

Once we saw these banks and then found this #12 one, we knew it was meant to be, so without much hesitation, we scooped this one up and quickly took it with us to give it a new home. :) Now it's time to start filling it up!