2 for 1



I love my family!

Dad

Wednesday, September 23, 2020
9:13 pm

This morning Suzanne and I went to Kayesville to look at some teller equipment we are considering for our new Springville branch.  The teller cash recyclers are amazing.  Unfortunately we didn't see them interface with our software system, but it was still worth the time.  We also visited two other credit union branches on our way back to Provo to get ideas.  I think we came up with some possibilities that we can incorporate in our new branch.

This afternoon was frustrating.  I got sucked into a couple different loans because members didn't like the answers my loan officers gave, and they hoped I would give them a different response.  I made it a point to try to reinforce the info or decisions my loan officers made and re-explain the answer to them.  But it took way too much of my time.

Thursday, September 24, 2020
9:39 pm

Well last night's entry didn't really conclude, I just stopped writing.  I don't remember what pulled me away from finishing this entry.  Maybe my battery died.  Anyway…

Last night I went to the Self-Reliance class again.  We start by reporting on how well we kept our commitments from the week before.  I did very badly.  There were four different things we committed to do, but I only remembered one of them, and I only remembered to do that one thing one time.  Not very impressive.  I'm doing better this week.  (Of course, the commitments this week are things I am already doing – intentionally keeping the Sabbath day holy and taking the sacrament, reading from the BoM daily.  Piece of cake! 😊)

Today was a super productive day at work.  I had a couple of meetings that were good and I compiled everything for our upcoming State exam that can be done before the end of the month.  It took a while, but I am really happy with the completeness of what is ready.  Next Wednesday is the last day of September, and my goal is to close the GL on Friday so we can do the Call Report the following week.

One of the meetings I had today was with a guy named Dennis McIntee.  He's a business consultant/coach from South Carolina that I met a couple years ago at an Association conference.  One thing I have always liked about him is that he subtly shares his love for Jesus in his presentations.  While discussing traits of great leaders, I remember him saying something like, "You don't need a title to be a leader.  The greatest leader ever was a simple fisherman…"  As we talked about my objectives and what we need, I think he understood where we are coming from.  I will be interested to see if we are able to work together.

Spencer had his first soccer playoff game tonight.  Their team played in spurts of great energy and teamwork, followed by half-hearted jogging around the field.  Fortunately the other team did the same, and Spencer's team came away with the win 3-2.  Spencer scored the third goal and had a few nice stops when he was goalie.  He also got totally lucky when he got burned coming out for a stop, leaving the goal completely unprotected.  I felt bad for the other player – he got so excited for a wide open shot that he totally missed.

Dinner tonight was pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream.

Thankful: I am thankful for getting lots done.  I wish I could manufacture more of those!

Ministering: Yesterday Suzanne and I stopped at a couple credit unions to get a feel for their branch layouts.  Seth and Kelsey were the manager and assistant manager at a branch of Cyprus Credit Union, and we were both really impressed by their approach and skills. I sent an email to Cyprus's CEO Todd Adamson; he and I serve on the Association Board together and I know him pretty well.  I let him know how impressed we were with his employees and praised them.  CEO's love to receive that type of feedback, and it never hurts the employees either!

More later…

Each of our boys has worn this outfit.  Brian was the first (I know of) to wear it 38 years ago.

Random goodness

Dear family,

I love you all!

Dad

Tuesday, September 22, 2020
10:45 pm

Busy but productive day.  I worked from home this afternoon for a couple meetings so I could avoid interruptions.  Nice to be able to do that.  Went to Spencer's soccer game this afternoon.  Fun to watch.  They played well.  Tonight we had chicken tacos with fresh avocado.  Wonderful.  We are so fortunate to have an abundance and variety of terrific food.  Jessie is making cinnamon rolls for Spencer's birthday tomorrow.  Oh boy! 

Tonight we ate cupcakes to celebrate Grandma W's birthday, and mint chocolate chip ice cream in honor of Brian.  Hard to believe that he passed away 17 years ago.  Stephanie realized that she was 17 when he passed away, meaning he has been gone for half her life.  Mom pointed out that in four more years he will have been gone as long as he was alive.  Sobering.

Thankful: I am thankful for the doctrine of eternal families and the resurrection.  It is TRUE.  And I thank God for that.

Ministering: I tried to compliment several of Spencer's teammates by name after their game.

More later…

And Google must be having some problem because I can't attach a photo to include with today's email.  So just imagine a cute doodle of a loopy dog that Emma did on Sunday.  I'll try to include it tomorrow.

Love finding the heartbeat

Dear family,

I'm pooped.  Love you all!

Dad

Monday, September 21, 2020
9:38 pm

Julie had a pre-natal visit today.  It was eye-opening as Dr. Jacob described all the things they are watching for, especially because Julie is 41 years old.  The list of things that can go wrong is intimidating.  The thought came to me that I need to trust Jesus and have confidence in the assurance I have felt that everything will be okay.  At first Dr. Jacob could not find the baby's heartbeat.  That was not fun.  He finally gave up on the handheld device and got the ultrasound machine, which took about four minutes to boot up.  Those were four long minutes.  Then he discovered why he couldn't find the heartbeat – Julie's bladder was so full it has pushed the uterus higher than usual.  There was our little baby, heart beating just as it should.

We tried to do a blood draw to do some testing.  The technology is fascinating – they can draw Julie's blood and filter out snippets of the baby's DNA that is circulating in her bloodstream.  It all sounds like magic to me.  Unfortunately, Julie really isn't good at bleeding on command, and they literally got only a drop of blood after two sticks.  They'll try again in a day or two after she focus on lots of hydration and wears a warm jacket all morning.

Work was frustrating.  For some reason, Microsoft will let you use the same email address to create both personal and work profiles on their services.  That's got to be one of the worst technology ideas I've ever heard.  I can successfully log in using my work email address, but sometimes I get my work profile, and other times I get my personal profile.  I have yet to figure out how to specify which one I want.  If my Board ever gets a spiritual message instead of a financial report, that will be why.  (eye-roll)

Thankful: Julie and Jessie made cheese ravioli from Costco for dinner tonight, and it was amazing.  Sadly there is only enough left for one person tomorrow.

Ministering:  I felt like I spent much of today answering questions and troubleshooting problems.  I tried to use that time to help other people learn how to find the answers themselves or understand the process to come to the answer themselves.  I hope it was effective.

More later…

Nathaniel really enjoyed his seat for FHE.

A view of the house when it's not totally dark.

Making up for a missed day





Dear Family,

Each day feels so busy, and then I write about it and remember all the things I did.  This weekend was a whirlwind for sure, but a good one.  I'm so grateful to be part of a family with you!

Love,

Dad

Sunday, September 20, 2020
8:55 pm

Being a dad is a full time job!  Yesterday was full all day long.  We started at soccer games in the morning.  I played on the playground with Emma and Camilla at Isaac's game.  Then we had lunch at home before diving in to baskets of laundry and a messy house.  I put up four new exterior lights at the front of the house.  Spencer was a great help with that.  The old lights were dirty and the hardware was sun-bleached; I couldn't get them clean anymore.  The new ones aren't quite as bright, but they look so much nicer.  At bedtime I was really tired and ready to go to sleep, but the house was still a mess.  So, I tidied up the entire main level. I was done (just) before midnight and we woke up today to a clean house.  Great way to start the Sabbath.

Bonus – this weekend was homecoming at the high school.  At about 10:30 pm we heard booms and went outside to our great firework-watching-deck and enjoyed a great fireworks show.  Unexpected but delightful.  And there were some new patterns that were really impressive.

Julie has been suffering from a sore back the last couple of days.  Last night she woke me up when Nathaniel woke up around 4:00 am, asking if I could go downstairs and bring his bottle back up.  "No problem," I thought.  I'll even take him downstairs and feed him.  I can do that!  Wrong.  I got the bottle all ready and sat down with Nathaniel, but he looked at me and waved off the bottle.  I am clearly not the right person to feed him a bottle.  I can feed him cereal, but not milk.  So I took him and the bottle back to Julie, and he happily ate.  Unfortunately, we had thrown off his routine, so it took longer than usual for him to go back to sleep.

After a late night and a long-ish night, I slept through the 4^th Ward's Ward Council meeting this morning.  I didn't miss their sacrament meeting however, and helped ordain a new Elder in their ward.  Then I came home and helped a bit at home before we went to Church at 1:00 pm.  Today was the first day of our "new" format.  The sacrament is at the end of the meeting, allowing us to broadcast the meeting on the Church's network.  In-person attendance is limited to 150 people, and the ordinance of the sacrament isn't supposed to be broadcast.  The meeting is streamed online for those who cannot/should not/aren't comfortable attending in person.  It was nice today.  Jessie stayed home with Nathaniel who was sleeping.  She said the streaming quality was pretty good, and I gave her the sacrament after I got home.  It was a nice series of meetings.

Before Church I popped popcorn for the kids to snack on while we studied the scriptures together.  After Church we did another activity – we cut out paper dolls in a chain so there are seven in a row.  We're playing "contention hangman."  Each doll represents one day of the week.  Each time someone engages in contention, they will be asked to use a black crayon to color in one part of their doll for the day, similar to hangman.  We hope not to hang anyone this week, but there has been an unpleasant amount of contention in our home recently.  I think it was a good activity and hope it leads to a good week.

As I was finishing dinner prep, my favorite missionary companion Beau Bingham called.  It was delightful to catch up briefly with him.  We only talked for fifteen minutes or so.  He is a counselor in their stake presidency and stays busy.  I told him that we are expecting our tenth baby in March and he offered his congratulations.  He still sounds like the same wonderful person I worked with twenty-five years ago in Namibia.

After dinner (magnificent, as usual!) we watched the new Book of Mormon video.  This is the last one that will be released until 2022. Bummer.  We enjoyed it quite a bit.  Then we sang hymns.  Grandpa, Grandma and Randy joined us for part of that.  Grandpa and Randy helped me give Julie a blessing for her back.  Now it's bedtime!

Thankful: I'm thankful for the gospel, it's ordinances, and priesthood keys.  My fast today felt really good.  I didn't start by eating like a pig, and I didn't "cheat" late into the evening snacking.  It was an honest fast dedicated to blessings for myself and my loved ones.

Ministering: We tried to minister to a couple people this evening, but we asked them to join our hymn-along too late and they were already busy.  Bro. Reid Heiss is new in our ward and is our Temple and Family History leader.  I am very impressed with what he is doing and would like to get to know him better.  We also invited a new young couple, the Zoebell's, but they were also busy.  No giving up!

More later…

Spencer and me putting up the new lights. 

Finished. I need to take a photo at twilight instead of pitch black. 

I'm ready for bed!

I love you all!

Friday, September 18, 2020
10:52 pm

Today went so ridiculously fast.  I spent an hour working with a family whose mother is aging and beginning to make bad financial decisions.  I also helped with some loans since Stacy was off today.  I sent out the Board minutes.  We also visited with Steve from Security Services to consider equipment for our new branch.  It is Sue's birthday tomorrow so we celebrated today with lunch.  It was good, but I prefer my homemade lunches.

Tonight we chatted with Mark and read Magic Treehouse to the kids.  Julie and I went to Costco to put gas in Bertha.  We also got some new porch lights to replace the old ones that no longer look very nice.  Julie is feeling pretty gross.  Nathaniel is getting fast at crawling on his belly and getting close to actually crawling.  I helped Abbie and Spencer both with some homework.

Thankful: I'm thankful that I like getting up in the morning and serving my family.  This morning Jessie made scones for Julie and the little kids.

Ministering: I ministered today to the family at work.

More later…

Can't remember if I posted Nathaniel playing peek-a-boo.

Soccer, soccer, and more soccer

Dear family,

You are all the best.  I enjoyed spending time with some of you today while others of you were at other soccer games.  I'm glad tomorrow's Friday!

Love,

Dad

Thursday, September 17, 2020
9:21 pm

Today went even faster than yesterday, and it was a good day.  I joined an online meeting with Blake Moore who is running for Congress in the 1^st district.  He seems like a good guy, but I felt sad that the purpose of the meeting was a fundraiser.  That just seems wrong to me.  I understand that it takes money to run a campaign, but I wish it didn't feel so… sleazy.  Blech.

I had Board meeting today, and it went very well.  I showed them the updated design for the Springville branch, and everyone liked what they saw.  Last month we talked about replacing the credit union vehicle, and today they approved purchasing a used Honda Clarity plug-in hybrid that Stayton purchased today at auction.  Jessie will buy the Camry and have a good vehicle to use for a long time.

After work we began the soccer marathon.  I went to Neil and Spencer's games.  They both played well, but their teams lost.  Julie and the other kids went to Isaac's game.  He also lost.  Immediately after soccer Spencer went back to the high school for marching band.  This is homecoming week, and the high school has the "burning of the S" tonight.  That poor boy is going to be exhausted when he finally gets home.

Thankful: I'm thankful to have a good Board of Directors to work for.  I am glad they trust me and compensate me well.  It's a good feeling.

Ministering: Spencer missed the bus this morning, so I drove him to school, then drove him to soccer, then to marching band, and even made a bonus run to pick up his fancy gloves for marching band and take them back to him.  I need a hybrid! 😊

More later…

Bowling last week (or was it two weeks ago?)

Are you self reliant?

Dear family,

I love you all!

Wednesday, September 16, 2020
10:15 pm

Today went so fast!  I accomplished a lot at work.  Had several meetings including a very good one with our architect.  We have refined and refined and re-refined our building design to the point that I think we are finally comfortable with it.  Our audit is going well.  I'm trying to learn and implement ideas that will help us grow and serve our members better.  It was a good day.

Tonight after dinner we played foursquare before I had a Self-Reliance meeting.  It was fun to play together.  The SR meeting was good, but we were about halfway through the group meeting when we realized that the book we were using is outdated.  I found the updated book online and realized it is much better than the old one.  I'm glad, because I wasn't really looking forward to spending 12 weeks in the old book.

After getting home, Beau Bingham and I sent a few texts back and forth.  He got my contact info from one of Mark's friends who is serving his mission in Laramie, WY where Beau lives.  We both got back from Church meetings late tonight and had family responsibilities, so we decided to try to get together for a call tomorrow sometime.

Thankful: I'm just thankful for my blessings.  We are healthy.  My kids are good; that makes me feel so happy.

Ministering: I took blueberry muffins to work today that Jessie made.  She meant to make 2 dozen for the family, but a doubled recipe ended up making nearly four dozen.  No one in my office complained!

More later….

Chemistry lessons at the kitchen island.

Spencer's double-bladed sword.