12/8/16 Temple Lights

This morning I had an unusual opportunity to serve. The missionaries were being visited by a traveling General Authority and needed a wireless microphone set up. Heavenly Father has blessed me with some flexibility in my work schedule so I was able to go and help them out.

This evening we had the special treat of going to see the lights around the Mesa Temple. We also got to see the Roche family and Matt, Lucy and Alex. Sharon wasn't feeling well and stayed home.

For the most part this was a fun occasion. We learned that getting there at 6:15 allows you to beat the crowd and find good parking.

Joseph enjoyed the lights and the chance to run around. He made me nervous that he would get lost but he did not.

Lauren acted like a good big sister for cousin Alex and kept him always in sight.

David helped to light the tree you see here in red when the troop did service a month ago.
The other lessons we learned were to coordinate plans ahead of time and designate a place to go if you get separated. Rebecca was briefly separated from the group and we didn't know it because the whole group got fragmented. Happily she quickly found Heather and we all got back together. It was a scary moment though. We'll want to make sure we learn our lessons before we go on an outing like this again. This is not I lesson I want to have to repeat the hard way.

11/29/16 It's How You Look At It

I'm not sure what it is that allows small boys to look at a trash can and see major toy potential. Peter is not the first of our boys to find this dollar store waste basket irresistibly fun. I told him it was yucky but he obviously did not agree.

This morning it was my turn to attend the Temple. I made it just in time to attend the 8 am session. It felt like the place I was supposed to be.

When I got home I found Peter and Joseph taking a nap. They'd been lulled to sleep by Peter's favorite show Team Umi Zoomi. They do exciting things like count down from ten and pick out the triangles from a bunch of other shapes. It's good for the boys to get some rest.
This afternoon I worked on a project for Gram and Papa. Papa wanted a photo border of his posterity to put around his annual Christmas letter. At the moment Gram and Papa have 25 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. Fitting them all took some doing but I finished a version to send to Papa for review. Next will be to add the text of the letter.

11/13/16 Tithing Settlement

      Once a year each family has a chance to meet with the Bishop and declare whether or not they are a full tithe payer. We believe in paying a full tithe in our family. The promised blessing is that the windows of Heaven will be open that there will not be room enough to receive the blessing. We have been blessed our whole lives by paying tithing. Heavenly Father certainly provides what we need and more. 

      Above is a picture I took of the kids while they were still in their Sunday clothes. We are blessed to have such a loving happy family. 

11/12/16 Riverview Park

     This morning we told the kids that if we could get the house cleaned up we could go to the park and invite a friend. As it turned out only Rebecca's friends, Missy (in white) and Krissy (in peach) were available on short notice. We'll have to plan better for next time but at least two friends came. On the other hand the park was packed and it made it tough to keep the kids in sight at all times. Perhaps it was for the best. Notice that Joseph loves being in photos. Sarah was glad Rebecca's friends visited with her as well. 

     Can you spot TJ and Joseph on the rope climber?

     Here is a close up of Joseph. 

     Here is Peter doing a rock climb. 

     I didn't get any shots of David. As far as I can tell he spent the whole time running or on his scooter. The kids all seemed to have a good time. 

     This shot is actually from earlier in the day after Peter finished off the black berries but I think it describes how Heidi and I felt after watching 8 kids at the park. Thankfully they are all good kids. When it was time to go nobody fought us. Krissy and Missy were polite and said thank you when we took them home. 

     Heidi and I have been talking about how memories of experiences seem to last much longer than memories of things. We hope we created some memories today. 

11/11/16 A Crew of Helpers

      My picture today is of Sarah the apprentice reader. She, following in Rebecca's footsteps, is developing a love of reading. Delightfully, she is also developing her sister's loving and helpful spirit. 

      This morning I took all the kids to Gram and Papa's house while Heidi went to help at the Wilken funeral. Sarah, TJ and Rebecca opted to stay and help with Gram while the rest of us went to move the Motorhome. Poor Rebecca had a painful crick in her neck so this left Sarah to water the tree and to work with Gram and encourage TJ. 

     At the storage place a covered spot had become available so it was time to move Bigfoot. David, and Joseph said that riding in the Motorhome was a highlight of their day. Papa and I chatted about the surprise of the Presidential election. We both pray that the new president will do a good job. 

      This afternoon Sarah had another chance to show leadership. She, TJ, Joseph and Peter biked with me to the nearest grocery store. All three boys wanted to ride in kid carts but there are only two seats in each. Sarah pushed a cart with Peter in it while I pushed Joseph and TJ around. It was a chance for her to learn about appropriate follow distance. We also talked about how to use price per ounce to find the best deal. I was grateful to have her help. 

11/10/16 Benefits of Service

     Peter and Joseph get excited when we tell them it's time to go Humanitarian. They are willing to drop everything and go. Often, with say grocery shopping, this is not the case. The first thing they do once we arrive is run to the empty side of the gym. Peter especially seems to love the freedom of running without obstacles. Next they play in the nursery where there are many toys and giant letters to play with. When we pick them up they make sure to get another run in before it is time to go. 

     This evening Heidi took a CPR class held over at the church. At the same time one of her assistants taught a class on how to use Scoutbook. Heidi has learned a lot about delegation in her current calling. Some who report to her, like her assistant tonight, are dedicated and reliable. Others need frequent pep talks, training and reminders. She loves them all but at times is frustrated when people commit and don't follow through. I'm proud of how well she's doing. Leading people who sometimes feel they were "volunteered" can be a challenge. She does it with a love of the leaders and the boys. 

11/9/16 Lifelong Learning

     This morning Heidi got out two games to teach Joseph and Peter. In the picture above Joseph is playing the pattern game. They also played a game that uses a balance shaped like a monkey to teach relative values of numbers. 

     During that time I worked on a CPE class about personal budgeting. I learned that you need to remember that joint bank accounts go to the other person on the account when you die even if your will says otherwise. 

      Today at Preschool Joseph learned about the letter M. Connie Lowis, his teacher, reports that his letter recognition has improved significantly. I told her that Peter's interest has encouraged him to get serious about learning. 

      Next it was Heidi's turn. She spent several hours working on her online tax class. 

     This evening David went to an etiquette themed mutual. He was very nervous because he did not know what to expect. He reported that "it was awful, except for the dancing at the end". They learned the chicken dance and a couple other silly ones. We're proud of David's willingness to overcome his fears and try new things. 

11/8/16 Cramming Things In

     This morning I saw TJ putting his shoes on under the bench. In hindsight it seems like a metaphor for how busy today ended up being. 

       When TJ saw me he gave his usual big smile. 

      Once the kids were at school Heidi visited the Temple. Peter and Joseph and I worked on numbers. 

      After the temple trip the four of us went to help Gram and Papa install their new range. We also helped Gram with her DVD recording set up. 

    Next up Heidi taught a class on using software for tracking scout awards called Scoutbook. While she did that Joseph and Peter and I set up mics for a Relief Society Activity at the church. 

       We got done early so, at Joseph's suggestion, we stopped at a park for a few minutes. 

      Here is Peter demonstrating his hanging ability. 

      By now it was time for the Entz crew to come home. As soon as Rebecca, Sarah and TJ got home we loaded into the van. One of the doors at Grammie and Grandpa Mangum's failed to fully secure on Saturday and the alarm went off. We got to drive there and back to close it. I joked to Heidi that next time we should keep going and visit her parents while we're out. By the time we are out there it feels like we should be almost close enough to visit them on their mission. Heather kindly watched David for an hour since we couldn't be home when he got dropped off from school. 

      Finally Heidi got to enjoy the Relief Society dinner activity. The rest of us had microwaved corn dogs. It was a jam packed day. 

11/7/16 FHE on the Sabbath

     Today was pretty quiet so I'll mention our Family Home Evening lesson. We watched an Elder Holland video comparing keeping the Sabbath day holy to the Star of David. As one triangle constricts the other opens up. He notes that as we focus on spiritual things, restricting somewhat our activities, we open ourselves up increasingly to spiritual experiences. We read a scripture in Isiah 38 that refers to the Sabbath as a "delight".  We talked about how some movies have a clear gospel theme like Prince of Egypt about Moses and the exodus. Others may not be as overt but still have a wholesome message. Still others might be fun but clearly don't fit with Sunday worship. We talked about trying to show Heavenly Father that Sunday is a special day by focusing on activities that clearly show that we are thinking of Him. It was a good discussion. All the kids down to Joseph had good ideas to share. Joseph suggested we could pray to see if a movie was good to watch on Sunday. We've got fun kids. 

11/6/16 Creative Boys

     This afternoon TJ asked me if he could use some empty boxes from the garage to make something. He and Joseph collaborated and made a person from the boxes. He asked me to come upstairs and see it. I was in the middle of something so I asked him to remind me in a minute. He patiently waited before asking if it had been a minute yet. I am happy to see the two boys using their imaginations. 

         I should mention a tragedy that happened yesterday in our ward. Sensitive readers may want to skip this part. A four year old boy climbed out a window while his dad was taking a nap. He fell into a mostly drained pool and drowned. I don't know the family well but we share our back fence. The family and many ward members are understandably broken up about the loss. I try not to think that Joseph is the same age. A girl who lives across he street from the family bore her testimony today that she knew he was in Heaven. At the point I couldn't help silently tearing up. Heidi told me later that she thought I was "ugly crying". Thank Heaven for eternal families. Even so we, and the whole ward, are praying for them. I can't imagine what a tough time they must be having. 

11/4/16 VCRs and Battle of the Books

     This morning Gram requested that we spend some time working on her recording set up. I used to joke that if a system wasn't complicated I'd have to ask my Mom for two forms of ID. Well, no need for ID today. This system conforms to the type of complicated my Mom likes. There are two DVD player recorders plus a DVR and three remote controls. If the settings on one aren't right you won't get the results you want. With Heaven's help we stumbled on the setting that allows you to record 6 hours on one DVD. Somehow it had gotten changed to HQ mode that only allows one hour. We wrote down some of what we learned. Hopefully now Gram is ready to record to her heart's content. 

     Heidi's project was helping Papa evaluate their broken oven. Pretty quickly it became apparent that this would not be a simple fix. A few calls revealed that a replacement would cost north of $500 and would have to be special ordered. Papa felt inspired that he and Heidi should take a crew to go make the order. Heidi had heard about some sales on appliances going on but after two stops they hadn't found a good deal. That is where Heavenly Father stepped in. As they were about to leave the second store a gentleman caught up to Heidi. He had overheard that they needed a 24 inch range. By now we realized that these are not that easy to find. He and his wife had decided to upgrade their oven and he wondered if we would be interested in his gently used one. The price was right and they live in the same RV park as Gram and Papa. All these "coincidences" are too many to ignore Heavenly Father's hand. Papa called this a Windows of Heaven moment. I agree. 

     Several weeks ago Rebecca was invited to participate in a competition called Battle of the Books. This is right in her wheelhouse. She and two friends would read four books and then compete with other teams to answer questions about them. To call Rebecca a voracious reader would be an understatement. She would rather read than eat and would if we let her. The impressive thing is that she also retains what she reads. 

     Today her skills were put to the test. There were 9 teams and each team was asked 10 questions, in turn, about the 4 books. Rebecca's team was one of only a handful to answer all of the questions correctly. Rebecca reports that she felt very nervous until she heard her team's question and then relieved because she knew the answers. Heidi and I felt lucky we could both be there to watch. David kindly watched Peter and Joseph. The little boys have yet to perfect their library voices. Today was round one of four. There are two more rounds at the school and then top performing teams go to a multi school final round. Rebecca is already part way through one of the 4 books for the second round. It is called "The Cay". We are proud of Rebecca's hard work and the positive results she achieved. 

11/3/16 Learning and Teaching

     This morning Peter and Joseph watched videos about "at" words like "mat" and "bat." It was fun watching them sound out the words along with the narrator. 

     At Humanitarian Heidi worked on quilts. I finished my flyer for the class I taught at Roundtable tonight. I also did some research on HDMI to Ethernet converters. It may provide and effective solution to sending a high quality video signal throughout the building. 

      This afternoon Heidi and I met with Dan and Connie of Med Care. Thankfully Micheal's hard work fixing things made the meeting a positive one. We were able to talk about the cool new reports we've been creating rather than broken statements. It was such a huge relief. 

      This evening I taught 3 12 minute sessions on how to teach the Webelos Movie Making pin. I hope that people were able to take something from it. It felt really fast. There is so much that could be taught that it was hard knowing what to focus on. 

     At the end of Roundtable Heidi asked me to share a Scoutmaster's Minute. I shared the story about the Teachings of Christ Religion class final. The short version is that the students are told at the last minute that the timed final has been moved across campus. Along the way there people who need help. For instance a girl in a wheelchair trying to enter a building. The students, worried about their timed test, rush on. When they arrive they find out that they failed to show an understanding of Christ's teachings. Christ would have stopped to help. We can think about whether we are just going through the motions or are we showing love to those we serve. 

    One more fun thing today. The elders took me with them to teach a lesson to a young woman who plans to be baptized soon. The lesson was about the gift of agency. 

10/30/16 Primary Program

      Today the Primary aged children sang song and shared messages about the Savior and the scriptures during Sacrament Meeting. Rebecca, Sarah, TJ and Joseph all had speaking parts that they memorized. They all spoke clearly into the microphone so that people in the audience could understand. We are so proud of them. Heidi sat on the stand and assisted with the microphones and with encouraging the kids to stay reverent. David and Peter and I sat in the congregation. David kindly escorted Peter to the drinking fountain as needed so that I could stay and watch. We had the added treat that Gram, Papa and Becca B were able to come as well. 

      During the rest of church there was quite a bit to do. Bishop Christensen asked me to help play back several videos as part of the third hour lesson. There were a few glitches to work through but I think the message came through. We need to continue to work together as a ward to make everyone feel loved and welcome. 

        This afternoon Jim Nelson and Greg Turley, our home teachers, came by for a visit. We appreciate the spirit they bring into our home. 

10/28/16 Letters From Gram and Papa

     Today we had a nice visit with Gram, Papa and Becca B. While we were there they gave Peter his birthday present. It is a set of giant alphabet puzzle pieces. 

     Joseph was excited to help Peter put words together. Both boys are at an age where this is a wonderfully useful gift. I wish I had a recording of the delighted squeals Peter and Joseph were making. Even after we got home and Peter went down for a nap Joseph kept playing. We spelled words like "mat", "bat" and "hat". We are grateful to Gram and Papa for the useful gift. 

      This afternoon David went on his first ever backpacking campout. We tried to help him pack light while still having what he needed. 

      Also this afternoon was the last Primary Program practice. Rebecca, Sarah and TJ are ready. Joseph may need a little more practice. He and Peter spent the practice time doing laps around the building. I don't know if they got tired out but I sure did. 

10/27/16 Happy Birthday Peter

  Today Peter turned 2. Rebecca likes to ask Heidi what time each of them was born. She figures they're not officially the new age until that time. Peter has already grown and learned so much. Thankfully he has passed through that stage he was in where he cried a lot for no apparent reason. His temperament is much happier now. He and Joseph are good buddies. Peter can recognize the numbers 0-9 and is learning his letters. He's also learning his colors and shapes. He's got triangle and circle down. He told me at dinner tonight that his chicken nugget was a circle (which was pretty close). 

      Today Heidi and Joseph and Peter and I went to Humanitarian. Heidi made blankets and helped me unclog a toilet. I worked on the tech plan for future broadcasts. 

      This evening Rebecca noticed Peter's eyes closing while he ate dinner. She put him on her shoulder and pretty quickly he was out. She has a natural mothering instinct. 

       Tonight Heidi had Unit Commissioner meeting. Those nights used to be hard for me since Peter would cry most of the time. Tonight he woke up, got a drink, then when he still seemed fussy I took him for a walk. A couple of times up and down the street and he was out. 

10/23/16 Taking the Sacrament

       Last night at bedtime Joseph had a fever of 101. At dinner time he wasn't hungry and just wanted to lay still with a blanket. Neither of those attitudes are typical of Joseph. This morning his fever was down to 99.7 and he seemed to be feeling better. Still, to be safe, we felt he shouldn't go to church. This meant that one of the grown ups would also have to stay. Heidi was asked to help again with the Primary Program practice and she needed to visit the Groves Primary Program as part of her Stake calling. In order to keep me from missing taking the Sacrament again (since I stayed home last week with Rebecca) I biked to church with Joseph and Peter in the bike trailer. I took the Sacrament in the lobby while Heidi watched to boys outside. She actually got to take the Sacrament too. David was in charge of passing to the foyer this time and he made sure to get us both. After that I biked the two boys home. 

     The day passed slowly. I enjoyed my time tending to Joseph and Peter.

     Later on Sarah and Rebecca helped Heidi make home made pizza. It was fantastic, the sort of meal you have to stop yourself or you'll eat too much. 

     We watched a video on the church website about the Studio C cast. They are all members of the church. The show had a good balance of spiritual and silly items. The goal seemed to be to show kids that they can be righteous and still have a good time. 

      Heidi and I were surprised to look at the clock and still have time before bed. We decided to fill out our early mail in ballots and stick them in the mail. It feels good to have that done. Now we just have to wait til November 8th to see how it turns out. 

10/21/16 Free Sample and Trunk or Treat

     This morning Heidi, David, Joseph, Peter and I had a nice visit with Gram and Papa and Becca B. We got Becca's set up to watch DVDs in her room. On the way home we made a quick stop at Costco. While there David and I got separated a short distance from Heidi and the little boys. David and I stopped to try a free sample. The sweet white haired gal running the samples did not believe that I was old enough to be David's dad. She was about to give me the speech about how kids need a parent to give permission to try the samples. Luckily Heidi came back by in time to verify my story. She thought it was pretty funny. I had a chuckle as well but I'll admit I didn't like the thought that someone might not believe that one of my kids was really mine. I love all my kids. Anyhow, I think David looks like my boy. 

     This evening Heritage sponsored a trunk or treat event. The kids dressed in a Wild Kratt's theme. It's a PBS kids cartoon show about two brothers who have special suits that let them have animal super powers. David and TJ are Martin and Chris, the brothers. Rebecca is Aviva, the girl inventor on the show. Sarah and Joseph represent animals they find on the show. Sarah is a jaguar and Joseph is a Komodo Dragon. Peter was going to be a panda but he was not interested in wearing the warm costume today. He went as a Kratt Kid, one of the kids on the show who wear normal clothes. Maybe it'll be cool enough by Halloween for him to wear the panda outfit. 

10/20/16 Service

      This morning I met with Delight Clark and helped her learn ways she can use a Excel to better track her business. 

       After that Heidi picked me up and we went over to Humanitarian. Heidi made blankets with the sisters. Peter needed a little more attention so for a while I helped in the nursery. They have great big puzzle squares with letters and numbers in them. Joseph and Peter loved filling up 30 square feet with these puzzle pieces. Peter has most of his numbers through 10 down. He thinks that B's and 3's and 8's are all 8's but we're working on that. Joseph has been getting better and is helping teach his brother. 

       After helping in nursery I worked on research for the Stake tech plan. I'm struggling to find my bearings on how to balance cost with the ability to broadcast a reliable stream of video. Basic is probably best but right now even basic web streams crash regularly. Other tech, like satellite is reliable but way too expensive. Microwave might be in the middle but is uncommon enough that it's hard to find pricing and other useful information about it. What I need to do is find some people who know about this stuff and ask them. Perhaps some of my engineer friends back in Utah. 

      This afternoon we found out the hard way that our registration expired. That was an expensive lesson. After a $40 fine, $187ish for registration and $16 for the emissions check Heidi still has to go downtown and pay $180 for the ticket. The good news, I guess, is that by showing that we're registered the ticket won't be $600. We needed to have put registration on our annual to do list. We relied on the reminder letter that appears to have gone to our old address. As I said, it's an expensive lesson but it's on the list now for next year so we'll be reminded. 

10/14/16 A Visit With Gram and Papa

     Since today is still part of Fall Break all the kids got to come to our weekly visit to Gram, Papa and Becca B. The kids could be counted on to make sure Gram's scooter is in good working order. We took a trip to the main building to fill up tires with air. 

    Another project was to refurbish Gram and Papa's scale. Heidi's mechanical skills came in handy here. She noticed that one of the hooks was twisted. It seems to be working better now. 

     Joseph asked me to take his picture. I think it helps him to feel loved to have his picture taken. 

10/12/16 Kohl's 3 A Trip to the Rim

     This morning started with a walk by the stream that ran next to our cabin. 

     Lauren kept Peter and Alex from falling in. 

     Next we visited the Mogollon (pronounced mogyon) Rim. 

     Rebecca used her tablet to snap a picture. 

    TJ found a cozy spot between two rocks. 

     Matt took us to a pretty lake with a walking trail around it. 

     Lincoln Phelps was kind enough to take a group shot of us. 

      Today was the day we came home. It was a good trip. I feel tired but I think everyone who came would do it again. We created some fun memories.