Summer Swimming Lessons

David and Aleky had swim lessons these last 2 weeks of summer. Both boys have had to work hard. David has been part of the pre-swim team and Aleky had to jump up to level 5 because there were no other level 4 swimmers this time around. They have done great and have been excited to swim.

This video was taken on the last day of swim class. David learned the butterfly stroke and both boys got a chance to practice some diving.

David Discovers LDS.org Online Stories

David is showing off his techincal prowis more and more each day.  Just last week he was working on our online job chart and he discovered a glitch in the system that allowed him to get multiple credit for each task!  I reported the glitch to the online company and they were impressed that he found it. 

In the past couple of day David has made another discovery.  On the church website there are stories that he can listen to online.  When he first discovered this option he would turn on a story while he worked on his penmanship.  But his brothers have caught wind of this discovery and now they are starting to congregate in front of the computer to hear the stories.  How can I complain about the boys wanting to listen to the stories from The Friend? 

I'm just impressed with David's insight and understanding and he begins exploring this new world of technological opportunity.

Pack Meeting

David has his monthly cub scout pack meeting.  We went to support David in his scouting.  We arrived a little late but we got there in time to participate in the "snow shovel" race and to see David get awarded his "marbles" belt loop.  David was also able to lead everyone in the "motorcycle" cheer.  Afterward we had hot chocolate and donuts as refreshments.

(video)

New Chores

We changed up our chore requirements a little to encourage our boys to want to help more around the house.  In order for the boys to play the Wii or any computer games they have to do 3 chores, write in their gratitude journal, and read for at least 10 minutes.  However, we also made a change that the boys had to do minimum level of work (based on their age; each kid must earn their age in chore money).

David, wanting to minimize the amount of work involved, has an entrepreneurial spirit and found a new chore that pays more than the others.  He can water all of the flowers in the front yard for $0.10.  Not only that but he's allowed in the front yard (without a chaperon)!  He thinks that's pretty cool.  He's been very diligent in keeping up with his new chore.

(Finally posted 9/6/11)

Cleaning the House is Fun to Do

The house was a disaster! There were dirty dishes piled in the sink, laundry strewn about the house, toys scattered to the four winds, etc. Not only that but with kids running through the house to use the bathroom after playing in the swimming pool, wood chips, grass and dirt the house was beginning to look just a little messy and it was beginning to wear on Michelle. The rest of us boys were taking things in stride; probably not the best sign.

Anyway, since I had stolen an entire afternoon from Michelle with her ultrasound and birthday date I felt like I should help repair the damage that time had inflicted on us. So I didn't work the extra shift that we had planned and we put the entire family to work. I did the dishes while Michelle sorted laundry. The boys had to pick up the toys in their room, front room, toy room and back yard. Then we converged on the kitchen and the boys got their first lesson in hand scrubbing the floor clean.

The boys thought this was the best part of the clean-up process. With the wet soapy water the floor turned into a skating rink. All it took was a little momentum and they could almost slide across the floor. We're working on getting them to wring out the rags before trying scrub the dirt from the floor. But they had a blast and the floor is clean at last!

Miniature Golfing at Trafalga

Today was a beautiful spring day and the boys were anxious to get out of the house. Michelle had a doctor's appointment so I got to take the boys miniature golfing. The 4 oldest boys came with me and Michelle took Quinten with her.

Since it was nice outside the boys unanimously choose to do an outside course and the majority chose to go to the north course. (I guess next time we'll go south.) The boys were off and running and not really interested in miniature golf lessons. They knew that the ball goes in the hole and you want to put the ball into any cool thing along the way because that is better. I did manage to get a tip or two across but I don't know if they were really paying attention.

In the end it doesn't really matter. We had a blast. The boys were temporarily distracted by the cute teenage girls in the group in front of us but mostly they just slowed us down. The boys can't wait for the next round of golf.

First Campfire Cook-out of the Year

In a way it's kind of sad that we are just barely having our first campfire of this year. In years past we've had campfires in March but this year we have started in June! Oh well, we do what we can.

The boys were so excited to have a campfire and roast hot dogs. All five of them we're on site to help get wood ready, split logs, get newspaper for kindling and fire up the matches. Even though we've had this wood for a while now it was still quite difficult to get burning. (We haven't had such a smokey fire in quite some time.)

But all's well that ends well. The wood burnt down to some good roasting coals. The boys did a great job roasting their own hot dogs (except for Aleky who gave a valiant effort and then let me take over).

It was perfect weather and we enjoyed our dinner on the patio. After eating the required amount of food (they didn't necessarily eat all of their dinner) the boys roasted marshmallows. Aleky is still perfecting his technique but at least he did it all by himself.

Quinten finally started getting tired and just wanted to go to bed. Even though the sun was still up it was an hour past his bedtime and he was done for the evening. The other boys, however, thought it was absolutely fabulous that they were able to stay up. The night was extended by showers to wash away the smoke smell. So the boys didn't get to bed until after 9:00 pm! But that's summer for ya.

Dewinterizing the Swamp Cooler

After a prolonged and quite rainy spring there have been definite signs that summer may soon be here. While is the first week in June it has actually been hot enough to want the air conditioning as a working option. So the older boys got a lesson in swamp cooler management tonight.

David and Donovan got to climb up on the roof to help me get the swamp cooler running. They could hardly contain their excitement and had to be reminded repeatedly that they had to wait for me to be on the roof before they scrambled up there (we didn't want them having too much fun on their own).

The boys were big helper doing just about everything that needed to be done with a little coaching from dad.

Before long we'll have these boys trained and then watch out world!

We now have a functioning swamp cooler! Thanks for your help boys.

Family Night by Provo River

It's Memorial Day, a national holiday, but I had to go to work. So Michelle and I wanted to do something with the boys when I got home. The fact that it was raining and hailing meant that our boys had been stuck in the house all day and we needed to get them out (the tomato plants appeared to have survived the hail). But when I got home I was tired and had a headache. Michelle felt similar and we had to pool our energetic resources to come up with a plan.


We decided to run over to Maceys grocery store for their soft-serve twist ice cream cones. After that we were going to visit the mall's playground for some fun. And with 5 minutes notice to the boys we were in the car and on our way.

The ice cream was great and we have plans to go back for more (later). As we left the store we drove down State Street in Orem looking for a sporting goods store that a friend of ours had told us about. The boys had so much pent up energy that they were nearly uncontrollable and certainly embarrassing in both stores! (We love our boys but sometimes...!)

As we walked out of the store and the store clerk "yells" at our kids so that they don't run and play in State Street we changed our minds about the mall and decide that an outdoor venue is needed for our children (thankfully it had stopped raining by then). So we headed for the mountains.

We stopped at the first park we came to and decided to let our boys throw rocks in the river, one of their all-time favorite activities. As we approached the river we noticed that it is much higher and fuller than normal. Because of the increased flow of water I didn't want my boys getting to close.

(Of course, we still let them climb on the bridge...go figure!)

After throwing lots of rocks and a few tree branches in the river we spent our last few minutes of our family night at the little playground. Our boys ran all over the place and were climbing on everything. The last of the pent up energy being released before we had to go home and go to bed.

As we were driving home we asked the boys what their favorite part of the activity was. "Throwing rocks", "Pooh Sticks", and "The slide" and sounded from the back of the suburban. Finally, "Everything!" summed up the family feelings as we headed home for the night.

At The Playground With The Bunkers

The warmer weather means that it's time to get together with our friends and it's time to investigate the various parks in our neighborhood. Today we went to visit the Bunkers. Since our families are so well matched it is always a blast, sometimes more than us parents can handle. The kids went wild and were all over the playground. They didn't stop until it was time to go home.





So the boys didn't have all the fun. I had to jump in too. But since I had the camera there is no photographic evidence of the ruckus and mayhem that ensued. Suffice it to say that we had fun running all over the playground. And I needed a rest by the time we were done.

Ice Cream at Maceys

We've past the deli counter who knows how many times and seen who knows how many people eating ice cream as they wander the isles of the store but we've never actually stopped to check it out. Well, today that changed. We decided to stop and check out the options. The little ice cream cones are only $0.49 each! So we got one for each of the 4 older boys. Quinten got to share with mommy.

These cones are so much bigger than McDonald's and they taste better too. This is something we'll have to do again.

Annual Dance Festival

This morning we went to support David and Donovan in their annual dance festival at Wasatch Elementary School. Donovan, in particular, has been so excited to participate in this event and has been counting down the days for the past month! We're so excited for him and he did a wonderful job, as did David, in this years dance festival.

Wrestling With Dad

Wrestling dad has become a family favorite. The boys believe that any time they have an attitudinal advantage they have some prime directive to jump on me. This is especially true around prayer time were I am often humbled by the occasion.

Amazingly, the boys are starting to learn teamwork. Once they figure that out I'm really in trouble. At least we're all having fun, right!?

Car Wash

My boys wanted to surprise me with a clean car when I got home from work. They did a great job! Thanks boys!!!

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.

Miniature Golfing at Trafalga

This year we decided to invest some money in the "Pass of all Passes". This is the season pass to 7-peaks water park but it has been combined with a few other local attractions. Trafalga happens to be one of those attractions and we decided to take the family and go miniature golfing. Because it is cold outside we decided to try their indoor (blacklight) course. When the weather warms up we'll be sure to visit the 2 outdoor courses too.

We haven't been miniature golfing very often so we did our best to give the boys a quick lesson in how to hold the golf club and not hit the other nice people with your ball. We were mostly successful and didn't loose any balls (although there were some close calls).

By the 18th hole the boys were getting the hang of it.

Even Aleky was doing pretty good. We didn't keep score because the boys required too many swings but they had fun and that's what counts.