3/30/16 Temple Day

     This morning Heidi did the before school routine all by herself so I could make it to the temple. It is a wonderful place to be. 

      Afterwards I managed to sell two premium statement subscriptions and talk to a few others. The goal is to get to 7 then 10 then 20 subscribers. That many should allow us to continue developing the report. 

     This afternoon I was chauffeur. I took David to Honor Band and Lauren to Heritage Orientation. Later on I took Lauren to Dance. I'm glad I could help. 

3/29/16 Red Handed

     Joseph found an ink stamp pad that has red ink in it. We have not yet found any hand print murals. 

       Today was AZ merit testing at Heritage. It ended up being a fairly low key day at school. We did have regular classes but on a much shorter schedule. We did some review and played a math game. 

3/28/16 Feeling a Little Worn

     Today was a tough day only because I kept thinking about all the things I felt I needed to do but couldn't. It was stressful. I felt like going to my room and taking a nap. I decided to tell myself that I could always do that later, if I needed to, but I would try doing one more thing first. There are still many things on my list that there were not time for but some did get done. Taking a nap would not have done them. I did get to bed more or less on time. Getting enough sleep is important. 

     So anyway, I met with a client, cleaned up some leaves in the yard and cut down weeds. I took David to his first day of honor band. Heidi did some training of a leader on scoutbook. I took 5 of the kids to the grassy field. Peter loves it there. He is very much an outside boy. We also had family home evening and nightly scripture reading. Not a bad day although I had trouble shaking the stress. I love my family and they kept giving me encouragement. 

3/27/16 Peter Previews Nursery

     Peter won't be 18 months old for another month but one of the nursery leaders suggested that if Peter and I both  came it would make the transition easier when it comes time to drop him off. Above you see Peter in the peach and white checkered shirt. Brother Reed has the bubble blower. That was a big hit with the kids. Peter did well. I tried standing behind him to see what he would do if he couldn't see me. He looked around and made sure I wasn't leaving but he didn't cry. During music time he sat with the other kids. He didn't even seem to worry if I was there. He's getting so big (sniff ;). 

     Later on David went home teaching with me to visit the Porters and the Reeds. My companion got called in to work. David is getting more helpful all the time. 

3/26/16 David's San Diego Trip

      This weekend David went on a wonderful trip to San Diego. This post has some of the pictures that he brought back. Above is a picture of David on the boat they went out on. They saw lobster and sea horses and even a sea lion.

      Here is David "hatching" outside the Penguin exhibit.

      This is David's photo of the entrance to Sea World.

     Here is David at the ocean. This is only his second time seeing the ocean. He reports that he had a great time although he did miss us too. We were very glad to have him home. We are grateful to his Aunt Heather who went on the trip with Lauren. She kept a close eye on him and made sure that he was safe and not too home sick. He took many more pictures than I can include here. Be sure to ask him about the trip. Email or call me if you would like his email address.

3/25/16 Good Friday

    Today the kids have Good Friday off from school. Heidi dropped me off at a Heritage Academy staff meeting and took the kids to the library, park and the temple grounds. We missed David who is still on his trip. Bradley spent the morning with us. He and Anthony stayed the night with us last night since Heather and Lauren are also on the trip and Doug works nights. The blond head in the foreground is Peter. 

    It was a lovely day. This evening we spent a couple of hours letting the kids play in the grassy field near our home. The Hallsted family was also there and that made it more fun. 

     Heather has been texting regular updates from the trip. All seems to be going well. We look forward to seeing David again tomorrow night. 

3/24/16 David's Departure

     Tonight, a little after 10 PM David boarded this bus for his 6th grade class trip to San Diego. They have several exciting stops planned, including Sea World and a Whale Watching boat. David has a camera with him and instructions to take lots of pictures. We'll be sure to post some when he gets back. 

     At school I'm still working at learning how to teach the kids to be respectful and not talk while I'm trying to teach. We've surely had worse days but today was bumpy. Still, it was overall a good one. I think some people learned something. 

3/23/16 Gram and Papa and a Tech Meeting

     Heidi took this fun picture of Peter when she got him back to sleep after he woke up prematurely from his nap. We're all happier when we get enough sleep. 

     This morning Heidi and Peter and I got to visit with my folks and Becca B. We did lunch at Costco. It was good to see them doing so well after being sick the past couple of weeks. 

     This evening Heidi and I went to a meeting for my Technology calling. We did a little dinner for the tech team and spouses. The goal was to get to know each other better and to get prepared for Stake Conference. I think the meeting was successful. The new team consists of Jae Heiner (wife Lillis), Mark Davey (wife Kristi), Mike Sagnimeni (wife Julie), Bob Rhyne (wife Gerlene) and of course me and Heidi. It's a good team. We may get one more member ahead of stake conference. That will be nice as there is much that can be done. 

3/22/16 Back to School

     Peter has learned to say "cheese" when we take his picture. Good fun. 

     Today was my first day back teaching since break. It was a pretty ok day. The kids seemed a little distracted at times but overall I can't complain. It hope the kids are learning. 

      A highlight for me today was getting great big hugs from all the kids and Mom when I got home. 

      Tonight at bedtime TJ read some verses with us out of the scriptures. He's getting so grown up. 

3/21/16 Resurrection Rolls

     Last year around Easter time Heidi ran across a recipe for Resurrection Rolls. You take dough and wrap it around a large marshmallow. When it bakes the marshmallow melts leaving an empty space inside. The empty space represents the empty tomb. They taste a lot like cinnamon rolls. They were a big hit both years. We even shared a few with our neighbors Anthony and Celest. 

    The top photo has David, Rebecca, Sarah and Joseph. The second photo has TJ and Jospeh. I have a cute pic of Peter that I'll share tomorrow. 

3/20/16 Choir Practice and a Nice Walk

     This morning we made it to church in time to catch part of choir practice. We sang a version of There is a Green Hill Far Away. Mike Sagnimeni set up the microphones for Sunday School. I got to help a couple of people set up TVs for their lessons. They called an assistant technology specialist to replace Brian Jensen. His name is Mark Davey. I look forward to working with him. 

     After Heidi gave Peter some fruit snacks and a granola bar he fell asleep in my lap. He was pretty upset until then. Sister Phelps asked me to help Brother Randall Cardon with his class of seven year old boys. They are sweet boys but were having a hard time focusing today. 

      This evening Heidi asked if we could all go on a walk to deliver her visiting teaching messages to her families. It was a highlight of my day to get out and do something nice as a family. 

3/19/16 Yard Sale and Lemonade Stand

      Today Heidi helped Heather with her yard sale. Heather offered to let us bring our lemonade stand.  Rebecca was in charge of the stand. She worked for about 5 hours. Sarah and Lauren both helped for part of the time. It was fun to see the kids practing service with a smile. 

3/18/16 Visits with Family

     This morning we got to have a nice visit with Gram, Papa and Becca B. TJ walked straight up to Papa and asked where Gram was. Papa sent him on to see her in their room. The kids feel very welcomed and loved at their grandparent's home. Another said he was hungry and Papa kindly shared a snack with the kiddos (and me). Papa is still not all the way better from his illness but he was able to go to the store and the dishes were mostly done. I helped a little but if the dishes are any sign they are doing better. 

     Gram shared her family history experiences and Papa updated us on BYU sports. One kind neighbor shared a box of Star Wars fruit snacks with us. Those were a big help with Peter on the drive home. 

     This afternoon we headed over to Heather's house. Heidi wanted to help her get ready for the yard sale she is planning for tomorrow. TJ went to the Hallsted's to play with his friend Andrew. I picked him up at 5 and he helped me pick up the pizza for dinner. 

     Peter and I had fun watching the airplanes pass by overhead. We seem to be right under the flight path for many planes every day. It was fun to see the wonder on Peter's face as the planes flew by. 

3/17/16 St. Patrick's Day / Railroad part 2

     Yesterday at the railroad park we had lot of fun memories so I'm adding some additional pictures here. On the grounds of the park is a western themed playground complete with stage coach. Above David and Lincoln drive the stage. 

Heidi and Joseph are passengers. 

     On the other side are Peter, TJ and Sarah. 

     Rebecca preferred to ride up top. 

    Also at the park is a statue of the artist behind the Family Circus comic. We thought it would be fun to pose along side. 

     Today Sarah's friend Libby and TJ's friend Malakai came over for a visit. We also enjoyed a visit from Anthony, Lauren and Bradley. Our kids and their cousins had a sleepover last night. David went over to the cousin's house and Lauren came here. Hopefully the kids all had fun. 

3/16/16 Railroad Park

     Today Heidi had this great idea that we should go to the railroad park. David invited his friend Lincoln Phelps. Above you see the kids in front of one of the full sized trains. 

They had trains in all shapes and sizes. Below David pretends to apply the emergency break. 

     David and Lincoln review a display about the different gauges of the trains. 

     Here is Peter looking at part of a huge room filled with train displays. 

     Joseph, TJ and Peter were the most captivated by the diminutive trains. 

    Here is Sarah smiling for the camera. 

3/15/16 Return of the Swimmers

       These pictures are actually from yesterday but the kids went today as well. Heidi and I told them that the water would be chilly but both days the kids braved it anyway. They reported having fun both times. I didn't get to go. Too much work to do. It was fun hearing the report and seeing the pictures though. 

      This evening I helped Gary Gunnell mount a TV in the singles ward bihop's office. It was fun to be able to help. 

      Also, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Heidi and the kids have made great progress cleaning the house the break. Yesterday they made great progress in the garage. Today the kids helped me clean out the van. Good to make steps in the right direction. 

3/14/16 Makey Makey

      A highlight today was going to the library for an event called Makey Makey Monday. A Makey Makey is a device that allows you to turn household objects that conduct electricity into keys on the computer. For instance Sarah turned play dough into piano keys and played "Ode to Joy". 

Here are Rebecca and TJ having fun. 

     David actually got to spend the most time tinkering. When didn't get a photo of him but he enjoyed playing with little robots the could follow a line drawn on a piece of paper. Depending on the color and pattern it could do things like reverse direction or spin. The kids seemed to

All have fun at this event. 

     This evening for FHE we went to the Maughn's house to help them pick lemons and grapefruit from their trees. Heidi remembered helping last year and packed our 2 new head lamps. They were super useful. We could see the fruit and still have our hands free for picking. The kids had a blast giving service and the Maughn's even shared some of their fruit with us. 

3/13/16 Most of Us Make it to Church

     A couple of pics from our tire stop yesterday. Sarah and Peter up top. TJ and Joseph in the other. 

     This morning David had an upset stomach and we decided, out of an abundance of caution, that he should stay home today. Heidi stayed with him during sacrament since I had been asked to give the closing prayer. Then we traded places so Heidi could help with primary. It is nice that my tech assistant Mike Sagnimeni is up to speed. He was able to handle the tech needs so I could take care of my family today. 

     At home David and I managed to index a batch of names from Family Search. It felt good to be able to do some service even though we couldn't be at church. 

      This afternoon Heidi got set apart in her new calling as the 2nd Counselor in the Stake Primary Presidency. She also got approval to do Philmont training for Cub Scouts in New Mexico. She has been wishing to do this training ever since she did Woodbadge. I'm proud of her for her dedication to serve and to learn. She lifts me up with her example. 

3/12/16 Eyes to See

     Today Heavenly Father helped us out in multiple ways. One of them happened as we were getting ready to leave Walmart. The kids had to go potty. I took the boys and the two girls went on their own. This left Heidi standing in front of the eye glass department. They happened to be having a clearance sale. She felt impressed to take a look. Heidi's frames have been held together with gaffers tape and hope for the last year. We've wanted to buy her new frames but since the kind she has were discontinued she would also need new lenses. This would be expensive so Heidi has made due. Today in that bargain bin they had a set of frames that matched her lenses for 5 bucks. That is a true blessing from Heaven. Heavenly Father put us in the right place at the right time and gave Heidi eyes to see that deal and now she can literally see the world better. 

      After Walmart we had a nice visit with Gram and Papa and Becca B. Papa was looking better today. We're all glad to see that he is feeling better and pray he will be back to 100% soon. 

      After our visit we had another Heavenly help event. We needed to stop and get our tire looked at but we knew that if we did we'd cross into lunchtime and we'd have hungry children on our hands. If you've ever been somewhere when kids start to get "hangry" you know it's not a good idea. Heidi felt impressed to stop at our favorite place to buy fruit. It turns out today is their 50th anniversary of being in business. To celebrate they were giving each customer a free hot dog, small bag of chips and a water bottle. Heidi picked up some fruit and we all had lunch courtesy of the Superstition Market. I'm sure this is another example of Divine Guidance. 

      Another blessing, no doubt is that Gunnell's Tire was able to replace our bulging tire and it did not burst while we were out driving. Heidi and the kids have noticed the van riding rougher than usual. Since it was one of the rear tires I couldn't really feel the difference. It feels good to have that taken care of. 

3/11/16 A Visit With My Folks

      This morning Heidi, Joseph, Peter and I headed over to visit Gram, Papa and Becca B. We've missed a couple of visits because we or they were sick. Papa is still sick, hopefully not pneumonia. We helped wash a few dishes and picked up some groceries. We couldn't stay long because it was super early out day for the older kids. This is the start of Spring Break. We'll go back again tomorrow for another short visit. 

      I've been reading the Percy Jackson series. Mostly it's pretty silly but fun. Today, when I read In the book, Percy said something I thought was worth thinking about. He says, essentially, that a good thing about having a friend who freaks out more than you is that you can see that you have to pull yourself out of your own freak out to help them. Heidi does this for me all the time. She is always positive even when she has good reasons to be down hearted. She cheers me up. Today I tried this out. Instead of letting myself fret about the many things on our list I told myself that I needed to be strong for Heidi's sake. It felt like a lie because she always seems so cheerful but it did make it easier to move past the bumps in the day. 

     This evening Heidi and I watched the movie Interstellar. It's a fun movie about space travel but it is oddly missing God. They talked about being helped by powerful beings from another dimension but I don't remember one religious character in the movie. So odd. 

3/10/16 End of the Quarter

     Today was the last day of 3rd quarter for my math students. I gave them a quiz but let them fix any problems before turning it in. I felt less beat up today. The kids were pretty good. Some are starting to give the old "I'll never use this so why do I care" line. The truth is they may be right but then here I am. I never expected to be a math teacher when I was in high school. Maybe it was spring break talking. Teaching continues to be hard but well worth it. This is the half way point for me this semester. It's going by fast. 

      I created an assignment for them for spring break and asked them to come up with a good reason it should be extra credit. Most couldn't go beyond "please, it's my vacation". One boy however, finished his work and did a write up of reasons on the board. It made me smile and I liked his logic so it will be extra credit and I will give him extra for he effort. His name is Lance (short for Lancelot) Orton. Fun kid. 

       This evening we headed over to the church. Heidi was teaching Scoutbook to some leaders and the pinewood derby was going on. We didn't have a horse of our own in this race but The Roche's did. Bradley came in first place! Great job to him and his folks on the hard work. 

     Meanwhile the kids and I made an animation in the nursery. I may share it later on. We're planning on doing a media workshop sometime this summer and I wanted to practice. Fun fun. 

3/9/16 A few things done

    Today was a work day. Tax deadline is looming and we have some clients trying to get financials in ahead of the deadline. 

     This evening Heidi and I went to a meeting about David's class trip. It's coming up in about two weeks. He's been nervous but has started feeling more comfortable no that he knows he'll be with friends. 

3/8/16 B Minus Day at School

     Today was a pretty ok day at School. The kids were mostly good. I did have to stop the lesson during 2nd period because they wouldn't stop talking. I told them to take 5 minutes and think about whether they wanted a lesson or not. After that things got better. 

      One girl did give me a thank you note with a snickers bar signed by several of the nicest kids. It was nice to be thanked. My third period class had time to play David's video game. They were very impressed that an 11 year old wrote it. The kids weren't real excited at first but they warmed up as they learned how to play. I think it helps to learn seeing the math in a more real setting. 

     Tonight when I got home the living room was freshly vacuumed and the kitchen and several other rooms had been cleaned. Heidi reported that the kids helped happily. This was a happy way to be welcomed home. I felt very loved. 

3/7/16 Monday Meeting and FHE

     Today was a typical Monday. I met with a client then finished prep for school tomorrow. 

     This evening we had family home evening. Heidi did the object lesson about repentance. The one where you put food coloring in water to represent sin and then bleach to indicate repentance. Only this time the bleach didn't make the food coloring disappear. It did make it fade and the kids got the point. Just heads up before you try that one. Better test to make sure it works. Heidi and I are trying to do lessons to help Sarah get ready to be baptized next month. She's excited. She's already been planning what her birthday party will be like. Fun kid. 

3/6/16 Sunday in Quarantine

     That's how today felt. Heidi, David, Rebecca, Sarah, Joseph and Peter are all sick. Only TJ and I have been spared so far. Hopefully he and I can dodge this one. We all stayed home since Heidi wasn't feeling well enough to tend to that many sick people. She and some of the kids seem to be feeling better this evening. Rebecca is not out of the woods yet.
     This afternoon I went with one of my home teachers to give my Dad a blessing. He has been sick for the past week and has been having trouble sleeping. We gave him a Priesthood blessing. I feel confident that he'll be mended soon with Heavenly Father's help.
     Later on Doug came to our house to help me give Rebecca and Peter a blessing. The other sick folk were feeling well enough that they passed on getting a blessing. I'm glad at least some people are feeling improved.
      Another nice thing that happened today was that my tech assistant for Adobe got to help set a projector without me. I've been trying to teach people to use him instead of me since I'm over all three buildings and he is specifically for our ward but it's been a slow transition. This will help let people know that I'm not the only one in the ward who can set a projector up.

3/5/16 Eagles, Battleships and Bugs

    This morning Samuel Phelps had his Eagle project. Those of us who are well went to help. Heidi is now sick. She almost never gets sick and when she does she can usually soldier through. This time she went to bed early. She needed to rest most of the day.

      David, Sarah and TJ helped with the Eagle project. Rebecca stayed home and helped her mom with Peter and Joseph. At the project we tied fleece blankets and fancified some flip flops. I didn't catch who they're being donated to but that's what's happening with them. All the kids were big helpers. 

      David helped me prep for my math class by writing a Battleship style computer game that uses trig to aim the guns. It's pretty cool and David made most of it. I just taught him the trig part he needed. Here is the link (you need to be on a computer with Flash for this to work):



https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/100588047/

3/4/16 Temple Night

     Today I spent much of the day studying polar coordinates so that I can find a simple way to explain what they are and why we should care about them. They really are used a lot in our high tech world but most of the applications are fairly advanced for what we're learning in class. There are a lot of electrical engineering applications like designing circuit boards. 

     This evening Heidi got to go to ward temple night. She's been working hard and taking care of Joseph and Peter who have both been sick.

3/3/16 Wax Museum at Entz

    Today Rebecca's grade at Entz hosted what they call the Wax Museum. The kids dress up and famous Arizonans and sit still until someone swipes a pretend credit card on the table next them. Then they would "come to life" like an animatronic at Disneyland and recite facts about that person. At the end they go back to being frozen until another person swipes their card. Rebecca was Nellie Cashman. She owned several mines and restaurants, she was also a nurse. She became famous when she lead a rescue party to save 17 miners trapped in a winter storm. She lived in Tombstone at the same time as Wyatt Earp and got the town to cancel an event planned at a hanging because she felt no loss of life should be celebrated. Anyone Rebecca did a great job reciting her lines from memory. Some kids read off of a card but she had hers down. 

     Today at Heritage things went much better today. Earl Taylor, the principal, spoke to my second period class. I also apologized for not listening better when they had concerns. The behavior today was much better. It's not clear yet that we're out of the woods but this was the best behaved this class has been and we've had good days before. They asked me to please give real world applications and to not go so fast over some of the material. Now I just need to do that and hope we can stay this friendly the rest of the semester. 

3/2/16 Working With Heidi

      Today was a day at the Valiant office. Heidi has been working hard and learning many new excel skills. She keeps impressing me with the new things she's learned since my last day in the office. It really is a treat to be able to work from home with people that I love. 

3/1/16 Tough Day at School

      I've heard lots of teachers talk about how hard their first year teaching was. Some talk about crying regularly. I've had some tough days before now but none have been as trying as today. I gave a test that, in hindsight, was too hard. At first I felt the fault was with my students for not doing the homework. When I  talked with my students I felt initially that I had been fair and did not want to bend on how I graded the exam. Gradually the class got more and more angry until teaching became impossible. Gratefully that only happened in one class but it seriously shook my day. I went to the principal. He helped me see that my exam and my expectations of the students were too high. In hindsight I began to see several places I went wrong. I hope I can learn from them because I'd just as soon skip another day like today.