4/7/17 A Battle and a Party

Today was an exciting day for Rebecca at school. It was the last Battle of the Books event.

Instead of being in the library this one was held with the whole rest of the 5th and 5th graders watching.

Also in attendance were Gram, Papa and Becca B.
Rebecca and her team played well, only missing 2 questions. In the end though it was not enough. One of the other teams got a perfect score. They will go on to the district competition. We are proud of Rebecca for her dedication and reading so many books beyond her normal school work.

After that we prepped for a party for Sarah and TJ. Sarah had prepped to play several games at the park. We launched water bottle rockets and played the other games. Then we let the kids swim until it was time for dessert.

Heidi borrowed a Pikachoo cake pan from
the library and made this great rice krispy dessert. You should've heard the kids say "woah!" when they saw it. Overall it was a very successful outing.

4/6/17 Conference Prep and Round Table

This morning Heidi helped out at Humanitarian. I tested our equipment to see how well it handled keyed in lyrics for hymns. The answer is not great but possibly usable. I'd like a second opinion. Perhaps we'll get one on Saturday.

This evening at dinner time Peter was apparently tired of being indoors. He kept crying off and on so I took him outside. As is his usual he immediately cheered up once taken outdoors. He and I ended up down by the grassy field. After a while it was time for Heidi to go to Roundtable. She came and said goodbye. We made a video call back to the house and invited the other kids to join me at the park. They came running. Above is Rebecca who wanted to play catch.

Here is TJ in the foreground with Joseph running in the background. Perhaps too small to see is Peter at the edge of the grass. David and Sarah came too but I didn't get a good shot of them. When it got too dark for the park we went home. We tested out a little device called an AppleTV. I think it might be a good tool to help Gram organize her video collection. Time will tell.

4/5/17 Girl's Camp Kickoff

This morning I did a 2 credit CPE class about wearable computers in accounting. The short answer is that while there are some cool new gadgets they don't, yet, do a lot of accounting tasks. That will likely change.
This afternoon I met with Michael about a new task for one of our clients. Then I helped kids with homework.
This evening I helped Brian Jensen with the mic and projector setup for the Girl's Camp Kickoff meeting. As always the women and girls had elaborate plans and decorations. They had a cute skit about ASK U the fictional university they'd be having at camp. The theme is teaching about personal revelation. What an important skill for anyone to learn.

4/4/17 Here We Go Again

This morning it was my turn to go to the temple. I got to do initiatory for six people. Many are ancestors we did Baptisms for last week with Jon and family. It felt good to be helping move the work along.

When I checked in with Heidi she had set an appointment to see houses with Diane. One family was keeping bunnies in the yard.

The Hallsteds kindly watched Joseph and Peter so we could be a little more focused.

We ended up liking one place well enough that we took Gram and Papa and the kids to go see it. The realtor for the seller says there is an offer already on the table but hinted that we might still win the day if we offered closer to the asking price. Heavenly Father has a lesson for us somewhere in all of this. I'm not sure what it is but I hope I'm learning it. We will see what happens.

4/3/17 Honor Band Concert

This evening Heather invited us to see Bradley perform with the Mesa Honor Band. He is really doing well with his trumpet playing abilities. We filled a row with many children. Most were well behaved.

After a couple of loud comments about how dark it was Peter was taken to the hall. Heidi took a turn first. During my turn Peter entertained me by talking about how the partially closed circular air vents looked "sad". I couldn't understand why some looked happy and some were sad. Peter was confident about it though. He also gave me a running commentary about colors, numbers and shapes that he saw. It was thoroughly enjoyable. I even got to hear the concert through the house speakers. Bradley's Band sounded great and we are glad we got to come and listen to him play.

4/2/17 General Conference Day 2

On Monday we wrote down some of our questions that we hoped to have answered at General Conference. Below are some of the notes that we wrote down. Peter had fun erasing the board when he got a chance so there may have been more. As you can see we didn't hear answers to all of our questions but we did hear answers to many. I also thinking that we did better listening overall because we listened with a purpose.

General Conference Questions
How do we know whether or not we should move? (Ganon) trust in God- Soares

How do I Help my children do better in school? (Heidi)
Be a light- have compassion
Be more diligent

What topic will Elder Bednar speak about?(Papa)
Missionary calls vs missionary mission assignment - Bednar

Should I go back out on my mission?(Ben)
Where you serve is second to the call to serve. - Bednar

My grandfather is married to 2 women who will he be with in eternity?(Gram)

Why should we ask Heavenly Father our questions? (Nate) Jesus listening can hear, you are unique irreplaceable- Holland

What do you do when a bully won't stop bullying you? (Sarah)
Follow the golden rule Renlund
Love our enemies the way we love our friends
Be kind, loving and charitable- Monson

How do you help with adversities in your life?
Seek a greater influence of Jesus Christ in your life
Sunshine in my Soul- Holland

Suggestions to help when family members are having struggles with living the gospel .(Papa)
Love God and keep the commandments
Follow Christ, see them as He sees them Eyring

What can the Holy Ghost help with?
Rasband talk -respond to first prompting. We will be on the Lord's errand
Elder Stevenson talk
Inspires, teaches, accompanies people who listen to the Lord

How can I better provide for my family? (Ganon)
Have goals and plans -Ballard
Seek first the Kingdom of God
Church leadership opportunities can help us be good leaders at work - Causse

After Conference Peter and Joseph and I walked down to the grassy field.

The boys love spending time outside.

Peter and Joseph think the chimney in the pavilion is a fun place to sit.

4/1/17 General Conference Day 1

General Conference is a wonderful time to hear the Prophets and Apostles speak. This morning we made our traditional cinnamon rolls. Heidi and the kids watched at home. It was my turn to set up the TV at the Stake Center so I ended up watching there as well.
During the afternoon session we all went over to see if Jae wanted help with testing. We had our Conference questions up on our portable whiteboard. We found several answers in the talks so far.

Here are Sarah, TJ and Joseph listening at the back of the Primary Room.

We borrowed some legos from the nursery to keep the kids quietly entertained. Rebecca has actually been doing ok at taking notes. She would occasionally ask me how to spell a speaker's name or an odd word. Overall the kids did ok at paying attention. At least they were quite enough that we could hear the speakers. They have made some good progress over the years.
This evening David and I went to Priesthood together. He was a big helper with putting away the projectors and cables after the meeting.
Also, Heidi and I visited a house in Crosspoint ward boundaries that is for sale by owner. It actually isn't on the market yet but will be soon. It sounds like it will be in our price range. It has a second building that could be modified perhaps as a living space. We'd need to check the zoning. We did this right before Priesthood and it made the timing a little tight for getting the projector turned on.