5/31/18 Girl's Camp Day 2

On the second day of camp, the girls did slacklining. The theme of camp revolved around superheroes. The girls were given plenty of opportunities to learn that they can do hard things.

Here is Rebecca near the lake. I heard that they went canoeing at some point.

Here are a couple of Rebecca's friends from camp.

On the home front, the rest of us muddled through. Today we went to Grammie and Grandpa's house. I helped them set up a Mint.com account to help them track their expenses.

5/30/18 Girl's Camp Day 1

This morning early Heidi and Rebecca headed to girl's camp.

Step one was to meet up with other girls and leaders at the stake center. Heidi estimates that there were about 120 girls and 80 leaders at camp this year.

In Heidi and Rebecca's absence, the rest of us had to make due. Here is a pic I sent to Papa of the kind of tortillas we were about to run out of. Luckily he and Becca B were still at Walmart when we realized it and were able to help us out.

Prior to camp, the girls were each asked to paint a piece of paper in a very specific way. No explanation was given as to why. The first night at camp they each put their picture up on a board.

It turned out to be a recreation of a Minerva Teichert painting of the Savior. What a fun way to show the benefits of working together.

5/29/18 Gilbert Temple

This week we got a little better handle on what time we needed to leave the house in order to avoid rushing when we got to the temple. We made it to the Gilbert temple with enough time that we took our weekly photo before our endowment session. Gram again provided four family names for us to take through. This time we went on a Tuesday because Heidi will be at Girl's Camp on Friday.

5/28/18 TJ Success and Alex Visit

This morning TJ finished the 3rd Grade mission on Khan Academy and started blazing ahead into the 4th Grade material. We are proud of his hard work. Good job TJ!

Today we got a fun little visit from Alex. He is good buddies with both Peter and Joseph.

5/27/18 Second Coming Painting

Since we moved in Papa has wanted to hang a certain painting of the Second Coming in the entrance of our home. At long last, the time has arrived.

Heidi and Papa and I worked together to put the painting into the frame and hang it on the wall. It looks great and adds to the special Spirit we have in our home.

5/26/18 Make a Plan and Follow the Plan

The kids helped make goals today and we carried them out the best we could. This morning Sarah and I worked on fixing the bikes. We evening rode our bikes to Walmart to pick up a new tire and rubber cement for a patch.

In the afternoon we went swimming. Above you see TJ's smiling face. Rebecca wanted to do an animation so we did one of her appearing to walk across the top of the pool.

This evening we did David's request that we play the race car game he likes as a family.

It was a busy and productive day.

5/25/18 One Year Anniversary

Here is Joseph with a balloon he was given on the last day of school.

Today, Gram, Papa, Heidi and I went to the Gilbert temple. This marks 10 weeks in a row that the four of us have been able to go together.

An adventure today was the return of the clogged sump pump. It was one year ago tomorrow that it clogged and we had to call a plumber to fix it. This year Heidi, the bandit, was our plumber. We took the lid off, removed the roots clogging the pipes and got things flowing again. So grateful for Heidi's handy skills that saved us $400 today.

Another handy Heidi moment was testing out the first curtain that she made for the Inter-Stake Center. Richard Hale, our stake clerk, approved the design so we bought fabric to make more. The hope is that by dimming the light from the windows people will better see the projector screens.

Today many found time for a swim. Papa even got in for the first time this season.

This evening was busy. The kids made homemade icecream. Papa provided Pizza Hut for celebration dinner. After dinner we set up the Lego Rock Band instruments in Papa's Man Cave. Becca B got right into singing with us.

Gram also took a turn singing and did very well. It was a fun, busy day.

5/24/18 Last Day of School

This morning, Gram, Papa, Becca B, Grammie and Grandpa Mangum and Heidi and Peter and I went to Joseph's singing program.

Here he is with his class.

Isn't he so handsome? He had a speaking part which he said clearly so that people could understand. We are proud of the huge progress he made in school this year.

Heidi helped with carpool today. She even helped haul instruments for the band getting ready for graduation tonight.

To celebrate the end of school the kids voted to go swimming.

Sarah loved helping Peter practice his kicking. He is making progress at learning it.

Joseph loves his goggles.

I even got in for a while. Rebecca and I took turns diving for pool toys on the bottom of the pool.

Tonight David played Pomp and Circumstance, among other songs, for Heritage graduation. We are glad that he is such a big helper.

5/23/18 Solar Oven

Today Rebecca and her group members created and used a solar oven. They used it to bake Smores. Rebecca reports that the chocolate and graham cracker parts tasted great but the marshmallow part tasted like it was old. Still, fun to see the kids learning such a practical skill.

5/22/18 Busy Tuesday

This morning, Heidi and I helped Gram and Papa. First up was setting up Gram's new printer.

Heidi swung by the Inter-Stake Center to measure the windows for black-out curtains.

Heidi also went to see Lauren perform Peter Pan with her drama class.

Lauren played Smee, Hook's loyal first mate.

David also got to witness the performance.

Tonight was Pack Meeting and the Sping Sing.

TJ was awarded his Bobcat award. Way to go TJ! I wasn't feeling well so I had to stay home.

Also this evening, was the Spring Sing. Heidi and TJ left Pack Meeting early to make it to TJ's school performance. Gram, Papa, and David were already there saving seats. Heidi had to continue on to a Roundtable annual planning meeting. Gram and Papa reported that TJ did great.

5/21/18 Sarah's Invention, Peter's Friend and a Little Clean up

Today Sarah took her invention to school today.

Here is a close up that she took that shows her new system for adjusting the height.

She has a whole tri-fold board explaining the research that she did and what she learned.

This morning we got a surprise visit from Alex. He and Peter are best friends.

We took the boys for a walk to the park this morning.

This afternoon, Heidi worked hard and swapped the less functional fridge for the newer one we got from Heather. Heidi and Papa and I worked together to get the older one outside. Our kitchen feels so nice now that we have our space back.

In the above photo, TJ and Sarah were feeling gung-ho about cleaning. They were looking for food that got stuck in the cracks of the bench. The kitchen looks much nicer this evening than it did this morning. I am grateful for many hard workers.