8/6/16 Happy Anniversary Grammie and Grandpa Mangum

     This morning Heidi got a call from her parents. They wondered if it would be OK to stop by for a visit. The reality of heading to the MTC in a month is setting in and they wanted to see the family. Heidi got to talking plans and it was decided that we could do better than a simple visit with us. Heidi made plans for pizza and rootbeer floats at our house and Matt and Heather and families were invited. We decided that it was to celebrate Grammie and Grandpa Mangum's Anniversary that happened Wednesday and their revised mission call to the (correct me if I'm wrong) Washington DC south mission. Somewhat surprisingly everyone was able to make it to the short notice party. 

     Peter found a good friend in his cousin Alex. Even though Alex is 4 and Peter is not yet 2 they had a blast going up and down the stairs and taking turns hugging a stuffed dog. Heidi and I appreciated how gentle Alex was with Peter. I've noticed that is not always the case when little boys get to play with a boy who is smaller than they are used to. 

     On the whole it was a fun event. I think that Grammie and Grandpa Mangum felt loved that their three kids in town were willing to drop everything and come hang out with them. 

8/5/16 David Finishes Pre-Algebra Mission

     This morning David finished the Pre-Algebra mission on Khan Academy. That's the class he will be starting next Wednesday. Of all the kids he seems to have been the one who needed to learn the most unfamiliar material. I'm proud of him for sticking through it to the end. 

     This morning Sarah watered Gram and Papa's tree. So far it has proved resilient in the desert heat. 

     The little cactus continues to grow. The arm on the left now has three little circles. Fun to watch Heavenly Father's work in process. 

8/4/16 G5 Troubles

     This morning I dropped the family off at Humanitarian and headed to Scottsdale with the G5 computer. It hasn't wanted to start up ever since Peter turned off the power strip unexpectedly the other day. The computer is 11 years old but has been working just fine as our scanning station. It has software on it that would not run on our newer computers. The guys at the repair shop were very kind. They explained that it might cost more to fix our G5 than to buy a replacement G5. They offered to sell me one for $300. The main program we have been using is Photoshop. These days you can't buy Photoshop, you have to rent it for $120 per year. You can buy a watered down version, that probably would meet our needs, outright for $100. The question is do I give up the old versions of After Effects, Final Cut Pro etc that would cost more to replace. That's not an easy choice for me. The reality is that iMovie on our newer iMac is way easier and faster to use than Final Cut on the G5. If we replaced the G5 and did another workshop, could we use it as a second edit station? If we could $300 would be less expensive than buying a whole new machine plus software. Still, how valuable would it be for kids to learn to edit on 11 year old software? The basic concepts are still the same. Decisions, decisions, I think I'd like to replace the G5 but it's tough to justify when I haven't had a paid workshop yet. Oh well, I don't have to decide right in this moment. 

     Aside from Humanitarian and G5 repair choices Heidi and I did some work.  Sometimes it's not easy explaining to clients why it takes so long to do certain jobs. People naturally don't want to pay more than they have to for things. It's just that sometimes things are more complicated and take more time. More time means more cost. I have a ways to go as far as learning how to really sell the value of good accounting. 

      This evening David went to a getting to know you party for all incoming 7th graders at Heritage. It was hosted by he family of a 7th grader in the neighborhood. David reports that he had a good time with his friends Cooper and Lincoln. 

8/3/16 David Temple Trip the Sequel

      This morning before 8 am Heather and Doug's flight arrived back from Hawaii. Heidi went to the airport and picked them up. I stayed back and worked with the kids on Khan Academy. David is getting close to being done. I'm proud of him for sticking with it. He's been learning tough material for him and he keeps making mistakes and having to do more practice problems. I've been telling him that him finishing after a struggle is a bigger accomplishment than if he had simply known all the material and breezed through. I think it may be getting easier for him now that he can see light at the end of the tunnel.
     This afternoon, for Mutual activity, the Youth went to do Baptisms for the Dead at the Temple. This time David got to go to the Mesa temple. David's friend Lincoln Phelps came and showed him where things were. Anthony and Lauren were there too. It made David less nervous having familiar faces around him. It also helped that he had been once before.  Thanks to Grammie Mangum we had family names to take. Heidi pointed out that August 4th is the day David was baptized so this is almost an anniversary trip. We feel very blessed to have a temple so close by.

8/2/16 Last Night with the Cousins

     Today was our last day with Anthony, Lauren and Bradley before their parents get home. We decided to celebrate by playing Lego Rock Band. It was a little bit of a challenge finding all the pieces plus batteries but with a little prayer we did. We prayed again when the disc seemed like it might be too scratched to work. We were blessed and the game started up on the second try. Above you see Heidi and all the kids except Peter. 

     Peter wanted to play too so Heidi had me find him a drum of his own. 

     Over all I think the cousins had a good stay. We sure enjoyed having them. 

8/1/16 Brotherly Love and The Whole Armor of God

     Today, at lunch time, I turned around and saw Peter feeding part of his lunch to his brother Joseph. So kind of him to share and fun to see his coordination improving. You can imagine him saying to Joseph "Say ahhh".

       Today Heidi suggested that for Family Home Evening we talk about putting on the whole armor of God. She put together the "armor". TJ kindly modeled it for us. The missionaries stopped by unexpectedly and looked up a related church video. I drew a picture on our white board. Elder Locklear and Elder Macbeth also made paper airplanes that we used as "fiery darts". David willingly let us first throw them at him to show what happens in a non armored scenario. He was a good sport about it. Then we threw them at TJ with his sword, shield and helmet. Not surprisingly TJ came through with nary a scratch but David would have been mortally wounded had the darts been real. We talked with the kids about preparing now for when temptation comes. If we wait to put the "armor" on till temptation hits it'll be too late. It was the kind of lesson you wish you did all the time. The kids seemed to have fun and hopefully learned something valuable. Maybe it will encourage Heidi and me to be more creative in the future. 

7/31/16 Sarah's Cute Skirt

     Gram Connelly, Heidi and Sarah have been working on a skirt project for some time. Heidi described it as "the most complicated skirt she's ever made". Yesterday Heidi finished it and today Sarah got to wear it to church. They were both pleased by how it turned out. It is fun to see my loved ones using their talents. 

       Today Heidi and I got to teach Rebecca's class. The lesson was on the importance of following the prophet's counsel. 

      David passed the sacrament for the first time today. He was pretty nervous about it. Thankfully Samuel Phelps (the Deacon's Quorum President) and some of the other boys talked to him and said some comforting words. He did just fine and, now that he's done it once, he's a lot less nervous.