12/23/16 Christmas Adam

The kids explain that Adam came before Eve so the day before Christmas Eve must be Christmas Adam. We spent the morning with Gram, Papa and Becca B.

David surprised me with his solid present wrapping skills. He was a big help to Gram and me as we wrapped presents for our shindig tomorrow. Heidi and Papa each lead expedition teams to different stores to acquire the remaining supplies needed for Christmas weekend.
After we got home we continued the theme of wrapping presents. TJ, Sarah, Rebecca and David each helped wrap gifts they'd gotten for their siblings. David surprised me again by being a cheerful helper. He really helped us make huge progress. I'm looking forward to not having to stay up crazy late tomorrow wrapping gifts.
This evening Elders Riddle, Davis and Olkjer (pronounced "Oaker") came over for dinner. We did Little Caesar's pizza to allow max wrapping time. The three are good young men and we had a fun visit. They even did a spiritual thought at the end. They shared President Uchtdorf's message that Heavenly Father isn't waited for us to obey some obscure and difficult commandment to bless us. He is blessing us now. We can, and should, improve ourselves but that will not change Heavenly Father's love for us. He loves us now and always.
After the Elders left Heidi and I worked together on a woodworking project. It's another great Heidi design. I can't wait to share it.

12/22/16 Sound Check

This morning, after David was off to school, we got a visit from Laura Jo and Orson Phelps. Their parents needed to teach at at Heritage today but they were out of school. At nine we all went over to the church to test connecting a keyboard to the chapel sound system for Sunday. The good news is that it is just loud enough to work. If we needed it louder we'd have to borrow a mixer from the Stake Center. Gratefully that won't be necessary.

While Heidi and I did sound stuff the kids played in the gym.

Rebecca the reader snagged the opportunity to read a few chapters in her book.
In the afternoon I worked with Michael Hallsted. He needed an office space and I negotiated one for him over at Empire. The spot he's in now is temporary until they put in the planned cubicals. Hopefully the new situation is a good fit for Michael.

12/21/16 Four For Fun

Sarah decided that if TJ was putting up his ornament she should too.

Here is a close-up of her adorable reindeer. It's another glass ornament. I told her to put it as high up on the tree as she could. We'll see how well it lasts.
This morning Rebecca, Sarah, and TJ had their first day of Christmas break. To make good use of it we brought back "Four For Fun", four things they must do before they get to play. Rebecca, Sarah, and TJ upped their completion percentage on Khan Academy math by at least 2%. For Joseph and Peter we used the large number puzzle pieces to teach them about numbers. Peter counted to 10 and Joseph practiced reading double digit numbers. The kids also read, practiced music and helped clean the living room. The nice thing about starting the day this way is that you feel like you got something done even if the rest of the day isn't as productive.
In the afternoon Heidi and I worked together on some work stuff. We are trying to get things sorted out so that we can take a break for Christmas ourselves.

12/20/16 Last Day of School for Entz

Today Rebecca, Sarah and TJ had their last day of school for 2016. I had my weekly meeting at Empire and when I got home so were the kids. It was fun hanging out with the kids today. We mostly let them watch tv. We need to get a plan together or that will get to be too much real quick.
David still has school till Thursday so he had homework to do. It was fun helping him check his math. We have this amazing iPhone app that can solve algebra equations just by looking at them in the camera. The best part is that it shows step by step how to solve them. That way if David did one wrong I could show him the right way to do it. Sometimes it is truly amazing living in the future.

12/19/16 Fender Bender

Today Heidi and I were out doing some Christmas shopping at Target. As I was backing up to leave we felt a small bump and realized that our van and a small SUV had bumped into each other. They and we were OK. It really was a small bump but there was some small damage to the other car's bumper. Our car had zero visible damage. We gave them our insurance. We are grateful that no one was hurt but it did shake my confidence a bit. Heidi pointed out the we were 3/4s of the way out when the two vehicles touched and the other car was only slightly out. She suggests that we had properly checked that it was clear but that they perhaps did not. It makes me feel frustrated thinking about it. We'll see what happens.
The highlight of the day was the Alcantar annual Christmas party. They had pancakes made from scratch, amazing buttermilk syrup and a sledding hill. Sledding in Arizona is no small feat. A company brings in a special "hill" on a trailer. Then they grind up about 1500 pounds of ice into "snow". The kids love it. They went down the sledding hill over and over. I was distracted and forgot to take pictures. Oh well, next year.

12/18/16 Peter Puzzle

This afternoon Peter and I decided to work on this wonderful Nativity puzzle that my mother made years ago. He was having a good time so I decided to snap a photo. Just at that moment one of the pieces wouldn't fit and Peter made this great face. It is not usually my favorite of his expression but he does use it a lot. He has also mastered, at the youngest age of our kids, the ability to turn "mom" or "dad" into deca-syllabic words. He communicates in no uncertain terms that we are now ruining his life. Incidentally, we did complete the puzzle and Peter was very pleased about it.
Another highlight today was that Heidi and I got to substitute teach in primary again. This time we were teaching TJ's class the Christmas lesson. We brought the nativity puzzle wrapped up like a present and had the kids guess what might be inside. Then we asked them to talk about why Jesus Christ is the most important gift it's ever been given at Christmas time. We also had a good discussion about gifts we can give that can't be wrapped, like service. Heidi gave each of the kids a little card that they could write on and create a "service coupon" to give as a gift to a family member. TJ's class of six-year-olds is adorable and a real treat to be able to teach.
This afternoon we went as a family and delivered treats to my home teaching families.

12/17/16 Piano Recital and Almond Cookies part 2

This morning we were treated to seeing Sarah and Rebecca perform in their Fall piano recital. Sarah played Silent Night and We Three Kings and Rebecca played Jolly Old Saint Nicholas.

Here is Rebecca introducing her number.

Heidi gave Rebecca a special braid for the occasion.

After a brief attempt at sitting still Peter and Joseph assume their usual position in the hallway. David kindly took a turn watching them so that Heidi and I could both see the performance.

This morning TJ informed us that it would be best open his Christmas present to us early. He wanted to have a chance to put his glass Christmas ornament on the Christmas tree. I'm not sure that as a family we are ready for glass Christmas ornaments but ready or not here we are.

On our way home from the piano recital Papa texted us to let us know about some drama with the Almond cookies from yesterday. The almonds we used had worms and we decided to toss the whole batch and start over.

On the bright side Heidi decided to make a triple batch this time. That meant that this time there were enough that our family got to have some. They were delicious. You can see that Gram, Papa and Becca B came over to our house to help with round 2. Hopefully this time we stuck the landing.