5/7/18 Boys Day Picts Take 2

Today we made a second attempt at a boys day photo with all the boys and the koi. This time Peter cooperated.

TJ took this shot of me taking down the fish until next year.

Tonight, Papa lead a family home evening lesson about cultural traditions and the gospel.

5/6/18 15 Minutes of Fame

Yesterday, at the BYU Fan Fest event, Jarom Jordan took a picture of my Dad and his BYU Idaho Football Undefeated shirt. Jarom later shared it on Twitter where it was "hearted" 250 times, retweeted 17 times and had 9 comments. I guess Papa earned some of his "15 minutes of fame".

After church today Papa and I ministered to the Ruddells, the LeSeuers and the Gechter's. Our family was blessed to receive a visit from Brother Lewis and Brother Postert. It was a good Sunday for ministering all around.

5/5/18 Epic Boy's Day

This morning we efforted a photo of the Connelly men in the house for Boy's Day. Peter was not having it so we'll have to try again later to get him in the shot. Still, here we are with the great Koi fish to celebrate the day.

A fun event that came to town today was the recording of one of Papa's favorite sports shows, BYUtv's Cougar Sports Nation. Gram refers to them as the "Yelling Boys". I know Jarom from my days working at BYU.

I was personally more excited to see my good friends on the Production Crew. Stephen Allred and Scott Sandstrom are in this shot. Also present were Scott Hill, Glen Smith, John Anderson, Mike Olsen, Mikel Minor. It was a fun little reunion.

Here is the production truck, with a new wrap since I saw it last.

It wouldn't be live TV without tech issues. The generator went down a half hour to air. They ended up finding a replacement but had to air a rerun for the first part of the show.

The kids were very patient, on a hot day, during all this chit-chat. There were some fun activities for the kiddos but it seemed to be too hot for them to really get into them. 

Papa treated the fam to some Creamery Ice Cream.

Take a look at these happy faces.

Papa also got a couple of "Cougar Tails" to share. Thanks, Papa. Fun times.

After lunch, Sarah and Rebecca and I went to Peter Piper Pizza. Rebecca learned that she has a knack for Whack-a-Mole.

Sarah earned a free personal pizza and 10 tokens in her class at school. That was months ago and she's been dying to go ever since. I'm so glad when finally found a day to squeeze it in.

Today we also found time to swim. I think this is my first time in the pool this season. Still "refreshing" as the kids would say but not bad. It helped that it was 100 degrees out.

5/4/18 Temple, a Date and a Planetarium

This morning Heidi, Gram, and Papa and I went to the temple. It's fun that some of the temple workers have started calling us by name.

Today David and Heidi worked on the puppets that he needs for his Shakespear scene that he is supposed to act out. I'm impressed that David did much of the sewing himself.

This evening Heidi and I went on a date to see the movie, Black Panther. It is surprisingly thoughtful for a superhero movie. Towards the end, we started getting text messages about the boy's mutual activity. One of the leaders had to back out at the last minute. It timed out just right that I was able to step in and be the second leader. The blurry shot above if of the boys driving LEGO Mindstorms robots around a maze outside the Planetarium.

Here are David and Rushton. The film was mindblowing and gave an amazing sense of just how vast the cosmos is. The Planetarium format tends to be nauseating for me but, with concentration, I was able to get through this one just fine. I am grateful that I was able to join David in attending this neat activity.

5/3/18 A Day of Accomplishments

This morning Sarah refinished up her Khan Academy mission. They keep adding new content so she did all the new stuff. Great job Sarah!

Then we went to Humanitarian. The older kids stuffed balls to give to kids who otherwise might not have toys.

Peter was pretty excited that he could stand on one foot on this rock in front of Grammie and Grandpa Mangum's house.

Heidi was sad to give away this bed frame that her Grandma gave her. It is sad to give it up but someone who needs it will have a better place to sleep thanks to Heidi's generosity.

5/2/18 A Trip to the Park

The teacher strike continued on today for all but David so we made the best of things and went to the park.

Rebecca and several others attempted to fly this kite. It was about as windy as it gets in Mesa but we did not get any sustained flight. We felt a little like Charlie Brown.

TJ and Joseph attempted to fly this frisbee with two toy guys stuck to it. The results seemed a bit unpredictable.

Peter liked this spinny toy.

Rebecca climbed up high.

Sarah smiled her big smile.

This evening Heidi and Rebecca went to Young Women's. There is much to do to prepare for camp.

5/1/18 David Band Concert

This morning Becca B helped us confirm that Gram's chairlift is still working.

Sarah's flowers have, so far, survived the heat. The strawberries are not doing as well.

With the strike ongoing the girls found time to read. Heidi and I made the monthly big grocery run.

This evening was David's final concert of the year.

They sounded pretty good.