2/10/17 A Visit and a Date

This morning Heidi and I went to visit Gram, Papa and Becca B. David stayed home with Joseph and Peter. Heidi was concerned that Peter might have a low fever and didn't want to share what he might have. (Peter appears to be just fine now). With Gram and Papa we went over plans and talked about house options. Heidi helped Gram think about where her missing book had gotten to, and Gram found it. Then we went and bought tickets to the LEGO Batman movie. We were planning on taking Anthony, Lauren and Bradley in addition to the usual crew so we wanted to be sure we could all get in to the same show.
At Costco we continued a nice visit with the Auswanderers over lunch. Heidi had convinced me to allow her to multitask so while the rest of us were buying tickets she was buying groceries.
This evening Heidi and I went on a "date" to set up for the Relief Society Brunch tomorrow. Roger Hallsted was a big help. We ended up needing a converter box that was taken to another building. He had to look in Des Moines before we remembered that it was at Val Vista. In the end we got everything in place. It was good to have three people working on it because it was fairly involved.

2/9/17 A Little Service

This morning Heidi went to Humanitarian. I worked on my tech diagram for Stake Conference set up. Afterwards Heidi suggested that we fix Heather's shower. The little piece that you pull up to switch from tub to shower wasn't working properly. All the water went down regardless of what you did. Heidi did some research online and found that to fix this you need to replace the spout. First Heidi removed the old one. Then we went to the hardware store and found the right replacement part. I asked her to let me help so she taught me how to use the teflon tape to prevent leakage. She then let me screw on the new spout. It wasn't perfect but now when you pull up on that little piece most of the water comes out of the shower head.
I've read that loving relationships, service and learning new skills are three things that make us happy. It is a happy day when I get to do all three at once. I got to spend time with Heidi, serve Heather and learn a new plumbing skill.

2/8/16 Exploring Options

Today Heidi and I went with Diane to check out two ends of the spectrum of possible houses. The first is priced lower than what we've looked at before. It has five bedrooms and 2 baths and roughly the square feet of our two current places combined. It also needs a lot of work. The carpet needs to be redone, drawers in the kitchen don't close right and some of the wood on the eaves has clear water damage. The ad suggests that the current owner acknowledges the issues and has lowered the price accordingly. On paper this could work but it also needs a lot of work.
The other house we saw is at the nose bleed top of our affordability spectrum. In contrast to the first house everything looks recently fixed up and painted. This house has plenty of square feet. It has many of the things on our list. At this price point it kind of needs to because buying it wouldn't leave much left for upgrades.
The cool part about these two houses is that they are both in our stake. The first is even in our ward. Both houses are clear maybe's. We'll keep them on our radar. New houses keep coming online.
Aside from the hunt life goes on. Joseph restarted preschool with Sister Lowis. We are glad to have her back in school. Joseph has learned a lot from his time with her. Rebecca and Sarah had Activity Days, Bradley had Cub Scouts and Lauren, Anthony and David had Mutual. We are very blessed.

2/7/17 To Raise a Smart Child

This morning Peter was watching videos on the computer. We've gotten into the habit of disconnecting the keyboard so that he doesn't delete things or turn up the volume too loud etc. today before my eyes I watched Peter grab the loose cable and reconnect it in the correct place. He is picking up on these things quickly.
Tonight Heidi and I went over to our friends house and helped them set up their new TV. They have a daughter at home who is around Heidi's age. Thankfully she was there and knew her technology. She knew the passwords to the wifi network and the online video service. I can tell her folks will count on her to help them learn the ins and out of the fancy set.
Starting tonight Anthony, Lauren and Bradley are staying with us while Heather travels for work. After scripture reading I got to help Anthony with his Spanish and Math home work. It was fun to be able to review both topics.

2/6/17 And a Little Child Shall Lead Them

Today Sarah and Rebecca asked if they could lead Family Home Evening. The topic was Joseph Smith and the first vision. They had songs picked out, we read scriptures, they had colors pictures to show. We even did a stick pull for our activity. It was well thought out and lead to a fun, and educational, time for all.

2/5/17 Living in the Future

Today Heidi and I were both asked to help teachers play videos as part of their class. Heidi was asked to help in Relief Society and I helped in High Priest Group meeting. Our library has three TVs and all got used today. The Elders even wanted to use the same TV that the High Priests had been using for their lesson once we were done. Frankly I'm glad to see the tech being used. It was a lot of trouble and expense getting these tools in place. I hope that they can be used to help people feel the Spirit and know the truthfulness of the Gospel.
Another high tech item today was video chatting with the Mangum grandparents out on their mission. It is amazing to be able to see and converse realtime with someone over a thousand miles away.

2/4/17 Back in the Saddle Again

This morning we decided to all team up and help David with "Scouting for Food". Rebecca is still in the back where we had gathered the food people left out along our route.

After we got back we had a family planning session. Our boys love to be with their Mom.

Rebecca and Sarah agreed to be our scribes as we discussed ways to improve our use of time.

This afternoon we traveled with Gram, Papa and Becca B in our van to check out a house together.

Gram and Papa evaluated a potential living space for them.

David and Rebecca helped measure the bathtub.

The kids checked the pool temperature, still cold. Happily no one fell in.
Sadly this house did not make it to the next round. We hope that by not rushing we'll find a place that is a solid fit. This is an important decision with long lasting consequences so we want to make it a good one.

This evening Heidi gave Sarah a haircut. Sarah has been wanting a more manageable hairdo. I think she looks beautiful.