12/31/15 New Year's Eve

     Today I had to work hard to get some accounting work done before the year end. Peter likes to visit me in my office and climb on my treadmill desk. Today he thought he'd found a good place to sit in my waste paper basket. 

    David appears to have taken this selfie. He is a funny kid and sees it as one of his roles to make sure that we don't miss out on the humor in life. 

     This evening we celebrated the New Year at Grammie and Grandpa Mangum's place. Uncle Matt was steward of the fire. The kids enjoyed roasting hot dogs for dinner. The grownups played board games. I ended up with work that needed attention and then fell asleep. I'll have to get a report on who made it to midnight when the revelers start waking up. 

12/30/15 Gifts from the Cousins in WVC

     Late last night a package arrived from the cousins in WVC. There are some fun gifts they sent. Heather's good friend Michelle drove them down for us. Above you can see Peter enjoying his new puzzle book. TJ can now read books like this to him. 

     Joseph loves his Joespjh Smith books. It is not lost on him that they share a name. 

    Sarah got some hair things and some cool DVDs. 

    Rebecca is excited about her new books. She is a voracious reader and has been devouring books this Christmas break. We're all glad that she has more good books to read. 

   

     Here is David with his illustrated scripture stories. I think I see some FHE lessons in his future. 

   Heidi is our Practical Problem Solver. She is excited to try out some of the ideas in her new book. 

     Here I am with my new puzzle and ornament. This will make a fun family activity. 

12/29/15 Temple Night and a New Job

     Guess who found an orange marker. Heidi and I figure he'll either be an artist or a writer if his love of writing implements continues like this. 

     Well, it's official, I am now a math teacher. Let's add that to the list of things I didn't expect to do when I was a kid. I am excited though. It's going to be a new adventure. It really feels like a calling. 

     This evening I got to go to ward Temple night. It's nice knowing that my new boss makes time to be in the Temple. 

12/28/15 House Cleaning and a Job Interview

      Today Heidi lead the charge in the kid's room. It's been needing a little TLC for a while. It looks a lot better now. 

     While they worked on that I did some accounting work. I had a meeting with the Alcantars. After that I had a meeting with Earl and Jared Tayor at Heritage Academy. They have a part time math teacher opening. The interview went well. We'll find out more tomorrow. If all goes well the position starts on Tuesday. 

    For FHE this evening we talked about ways the kids can help more with the laundry. 

12/27/15 Tech Upgrades

     The above pictures are from a few days ago when Matt and Sharon took Rebecca and Sarah to the zoo with Lucy and Alex. I love how Rebecca's fun personality really comes through in the first photo. 

    Today at church we got to try out the new mic setup that we just acquired for Sunday School. It seemed to go very well. This afternoon David helped me install the last few RAM and SSDs at the Des Moines building. David is becoming quite the tech helper. 

     This evening we went over to the Roche home to celebrate Alex Mangum's  birthday. There was cake and ice cream. The kids all seemed to have a good time. 

12/26/15 The Day After Christmas

      'Twas the day after Christmas and all through the house lots of things needed cleaning perhaps even a blouse. Things look much better downstairs with a day to put things away. There was still time afterwards for play. 

     Here is David with of of his new toys. A glider from his siblings. Heavenly Father cooperated by providing some wind to keep the glider aloft. 

     Still, more than the play I am grateful for the hard workers in our home. Here are David and Rebecca cooking lunch on Mom's new griddle. Work with a smile is one of the best things around.  

12/25/15 Christmas Day

      This morning the kids woke up excited to see what Santa brought. Most of us got flashlights and socks, some candy and an orange in our stockings. Some of the kids got other toys. 

       The kids opened family gifts at home   We ate our traditional cinnamon rolls. After that we went to the Roche home to share gifts with the cousins. We also played some board games and ate a nice meal. 

     The kids enjoyed spending time together with the cousins and getting to try out their new toys. David reported that this was the best Christmas he could remember.