3/6/17 FHE Ice Cream

Today for FHE we played a game. I timed how fast we could work as a family to bring in clothes from the line, sort them then put them away in the proper basket. We did three loads of laundry in about 12 minutes. The kids were able to see that if we all work hard together we can make quick work of that task.

As a reward we had ice cream cones.

This was an extra special treat since we don't normally have cones. I couldn't help but notice that the kids did not devour the ice cream quite as quickly and no one begged for more. This is no small thing. We may need to do cones more often.

3/5/17 Saying A Prayer

     This morning Heidi was invited to say the opening prayer in Sacrament meeting. She thinks this may be the first time she's ever said the opening prayer in this ward. The only challenging thing about this is that it requires Peter to cooperate. He was unusually fussy ahead of the meeting and Heidi took him out. When they announced Heidi's name I went out and traded places with her. From what I heard, over the noise Peter was making, she said a lovely prayer.

3/4/17 Coon Bluff Day 2

    This morning the kids were ready to be up and exploring.

     We did a short hike to the base of the bluff.

     The kids had fun climbing and exploring the little cave-like features.

We are grateful to Matt for putting this event together and for inviting us to come along.

3/3/17 Camping At Coon Bluff

This morning those who did not have school went to help Gram and Papa Connelly. For a while Joseph and Peter self entertained using sidewalk chalk. David also helped divert them by driving Gram's scooter and giving the boys rides. David is becoming more helpful all the time.

     Last night Heidi's brother Matt invited us to go camping. It seemed a little crazy to go with such short notice but it also sounded like fun.

      It got chilly enough that we were glad to have our hoodies and hats. Our resident "batman" even donned his cowl.

     TJ and Heidi find some warm at the fire.

     Rebecca is our polar bear. She did not feel cold, even as the rest of us shivered.

     Matt and Sharon brought their foldable wagon. It was not only handy for hauling stuff from the vehicles. The boys couldn't get enough riding up and down the sidewalk in it.

     TJ is a good big brother, giving a ride to Peter and cousin Alex.

       Alex and Peter clearly appreciate the special treatment.

3/2/17 Boxes

     This morning Heidi and I took Peter and Joseph to Humanitarian. Peter insisted on bringing his "boxes". They are cute soft blocks that Gram and Papa Connelly got him for Christmas. Peter loves to point to and name the numbers on the blocks. He also does ok naming the color and the animal on the blocks. It nice when they like something that also helps them learn.

3/1/17 Time with Pop

This morning when I got up to make breakfast Peter came downstairs with me. He discovered this piece of bubble wrap. Somehow he knew just what he wanted to do with it.

As I look at the picture I can almost hear him saying "Dad!" but with 5 syllables. He's gotten very good at that. The simple pleasures are the best.

2/28/17 Hail, Temple and Trombone

I was in the office getting ready to head home when it started coming down hard.

If you look closely you can see hail amid the big drops. Frozen precipitation is not common in Arizona. Thankfully it did not last long. I was able to bike home around a half hour later.

Happily Heidi was able to keep from getting too wet at her trip to the temple.

This evening David's band performed in concert. He was very nervous. He is a bit of a perfectionist and he recognized that his band has some less experienced kids in it. He also worried he would miss some notes. We assured him that the band is improving. It sounded better than last time. We noticed that the low brass sounded especially solid.

Here is David warming up. His teacher, Mr. Wakely, called David out before one of the numbers "On Wings of Eagles". Apparently David not only makes us laugh at home. His teacher noted that David called the song "On Wings of Bagles" or "On Bings of Wegles". The teacher noted that he would accidentally find himself referring to the song by one of the silly names. He seemed to appreciate David keeping class fun. Once again we enjoyed Gram, Papa and Becca B joining us for the concert. Having them along makes it feel like even more of a special event.