Ward Missionary Fair

Our ward had a missionary fair. There were about a half dozen activities that helped families to be aware of missionary work and preparing to be a missionary.

The best activity, meaning the one that the boys learned the most, was this clothing station. The boys learned how to hang up their clothes properly (in case they serve in an area without dryers).

We also learned how to properly iron a white shirt. I'll have to admit that I was learning a few things at this station. (Would have been helpful a few years ago when I was actually serving my mission. But better late than never!)

The boys also got missionary savings banks so that they can start saving for their missions. We went home and immediately started the boys on a missionary savings program. The boys are paying 10% for tithing and are now paying 10% to their missionary savings banks. If we start now we might be able to afford the cost of all our family missions!

(finally posted 6/18/11)

Pine Wood Derby

David is excited about being a new cub scout.  He's already getting his first taste of the annual pine wood derby races.  While he's excited about the races and being in cub scouts he's still trying to get the hang of it.  His first pine wood derby got about 20 minutes of expert time and he was done.  Check out how his first car compares to the competition...


To his credit, it was all done by him and not by daddy.  Well, actually the weights for the car were added by me but the design, shape and paint were all David.


Even though he didn't win the race he had a lot of fun racing his car over and over.  After the official race was over he, along with several other scouts, raced their cars just for fun.

Next year should be more exciting now that we know what to expect and have a few more ideas to work with.

(finally posted 9/9/11)

David Gets Baptized

I'm not gonna lie; I'm very excited that David made the decision to get baptized. Today was the big day and he did such a good job. David said he was nervous and scared but you couldn't tell. He acted so confident and happy that he was finally going to be baptized, a day he has been looking forward to for quite some time. We were blessed to have quite a few people in attendance including both sets of grandparents, some aunts, uncles and cousins, his primary teachers and the stake patriarch (to list a few).

The baptismal program was mostly family but David listened attentively to each speaker. After the baptism our 4 oldest boys did a musical number (The Fourth Article of Faith). He was then confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Spirit was very strong and there were a few choked testimonies and a few tears too. David even bore his testimony after the confirmation.

At the end of the service David went and thanked as many people for coming as he could, giving hugs to most of them. He was such a little man and it made my heart leap for joy. I am so proud of David for making this decision and taking such an important step in his life.

Fruit Salad

The boys were such big helpers tonight. Michelle wanted to make a fruit salad for dinner; and she felt that the boys were big enough to be helping around the house. So they were put to work. Michael and Aleky provided a steady stream of large fruit pieces while David and Donovan were in charge of cutting the fruit down to size. (Daddy helped get the large fruit pieces prepared, peeled, washed, etc.) Good job boys!

Journal Writing

Michelle had a brilliant idea of putting some journals together for our boys. Since they are still young she thought that a page with a "picture area" at the top of the page and lines at the bottom was a perfect compromise in journaling. The boys could draw a picture, write about the day, or both. David and Donovan have just gone to town with the idea and they seem to have plenty to say every night (for the past 3 nights). Michael and Aleky are still warming up to the idea, although Michael may be a budding artist; Michael has done some great pictures so far.

Our idea was to let the boys start keeping track of something they did for someone else during the day. That idea has become a little broader to include something that was important or significant to them during the day. Aleky only draws pictures of Jesus. Michael does a lot of self portraits. Donovan has been documenting the chores he's been doing around the house. David has shared a few different ideas at home and at school.

For now, I'm just happy that they are putting effort into writing. We'll work on the other stuff later.

Hair Got Splatted

Michael's hair got splatted! They boys came up with this term over a year ago and it has stuck in our family. One's hair is splatted when it is unkempt and needs to be combed (for any reason). It is especially obvious when one's hair is sticking up or any other direction. Michael had an especially good hair style going on before conference on Saturday so we had to take a picture.