Aebleskivers

Dear family,

Much love to all.  Hope you had a great MLK Day and are read for the rest of the week.

Love,

Dad

Monday, January 18, 2021
9:32 pm

This month is racing past.  Today I made aebleskivers for breakfast. They were a fair amount of work and were too oily.  I probably need to refine the technique, but I'm not sure they are worth the effort to perfect.  But the kids loved them and want them for birthday breakfasts, so maybe I'll keep working. 

Did some cleanup around the house then watched the live-action Aladdin.  I remembered again that I just don't enjoy sitting down to watch a movie.  I saw bits and pieces of it, then sat down for the last 15 minutes.  I can handle the climax and resolution phases, but all the build-up drives me nuts.

Tonight Julie and Rachel went to Provo for Amy McKinney's wedding ceremony.  I played Twister at home with the other kids, then we went to the reception together. 

Early morning seminary starts again tomorrow, so I'm going to bed (possibly before Spencer!)

More later…

Playing Twister.  How fast is Emma moving to be so blurry??

At the wedding reception.

If you're happy and you know it...

Dear family,

I hope your weekend was as pleasant as mine.  Not to say that the entire weekend was pleasant - coaxing along unwilling cleaners can be less enjoyable.  But I'm happy and hope you are too.

Love,

Dad

Sunday, January 17, 2021
10:19 pm

It's been a nice couple of days.  Julie went to a bridal shower with the girls and I stayed home with the boys and little girls to clean the house.  Okay, that part wasn't so nice.

In the afternoon I climbed on our neighbor's roof to trim parts of our tree that were growing over their garage.  Then I cleaned out their gutter that was FULL of several years' worth of leaves, most of which had decayed into really quality compost.  I put it in our garden. 😊

In the evening we had a whole clan of Woodward relatives over and it was really nice.  Amy McKinney is getting married tomorrow so her family is in Utah for that.  It was Annie Woodward's birthday yesterday, so David and Lisa wanted to have a party for her, but their house isn't big enough to handle all the people.  We hosted it here.  The following came: Amanda and her kids; Michelle and her kids; Amanda and her kids; David and Lisa and their kids; Josh Lindow; Michael and Betsy and their kids; and Rachel.  We had several kinds of soup and bread, finished with cake and ice cream.  I found myself just smiling as I cleaned the kitchen and listened to sisters and cousins visit after not being together for a long time.  It was also lots of fun watching the little kids make new friends.  At first, Emma was not too excited to have so many strangers over.  By the end she was playing with as many of them as possible and mourning when it was time to leave.  Nice night.

Today was a good day.  Morning meetings went well and sacrament meeting was particularly good.   Again, I caught myself smiling as I walked out of the Church.  I had a nice visit with Pres. Brinkerhoff then held a training meeting with the Young Women class presidencies and Aaronic Priesthood quorum presidencies.  The training meeting was okay, but not as impactful as I hoped.  I need to remember when planning any meeting to identify the desired outcome and drive specifically toward that.

This afternoon we had a very nice day at home.  Julie planned an activity – "I'm going to the promised land and I'm taking… listing items from A to Z.  Each time you add a letter you repeat everything that was said before."  Fun activity and the little girls did great.  Then I did an activity, collecting items to discuss what we learn from the First Vision.  Flashlight represented the pillar of light; .gif from the movie Cars when the rusty truck named Fred says, "He knows my name!" (the kids' favorite prop), an extension cord representing power, etc.  Didn't take long but was fun.

Then we started playing one-prop charades with an frying pan as this week's prop.  It was a hoot.  The longer we played, the more good ideas we came up with.  We probably played for 45 minutes and could have gone longer, but we needed to start making dinner.

Highlight of the day: Nathaniel has decided that he doesn't need to eat.  He closes his lips, sticks his tongue out, and shakes his head back and forth.  Gentle hint that he doesn't want food.  Tonight we started singing "If you're happy and you know it say WOW."  Every time we said "WOW," he would open his mouth and Spencer would put a bite of applesauce in.  He ate nearly four (small) bowls of applesauce.  By the end, you could see that he was getting full and really didn't want any more, but when we said WOW, it was like his mouth involuntarily opened and Spencer put more in.  He finally developed the willpower to keep his mouth closed, but we felt good that he had nourishment in his belly.  And we all got plenty of laughs out of the experience.

Very nice scripture study tonight talking about D&C 3 and the experience of the lost 116-page manuscript.  Thinking about that event, I feel much compassion for everyone involved and pass no judgment at all.

Thankful: See above.

Ministering: Again, see above.

More later…

There were SEVERAL good photos from this weekend.  I'll send only a couple tonight and save some of them for days when I don't get a good picture.  Now... which ones to send tonight?

Jessie watercolor painting on sugar cookies.

The result!

Friday thoughts

Dear family,

So glad you're starting to feel better dad!  I hope that continues and your talk next Sunday in Church goes very well.

Mark, I got a delivery notice for your new speaker from Amazon.  I hope it works great and you enjoy your classical music even more than before.

Spencer and I need to go driving to deliver some eggs to one of his friends.

Love you all!

Dad

 Friday, January 15, 2021

8:52 pm

Right now Nathaniel is screaming in delight as Spencer chases him around the living room on his hands and knees.  It is so much fun to listen to.

Work was busy.  An email problem that I have been working on most of this week still hasn't been resolved, and it's driving me crazy.  I spent too much time on that today, and another hour on the phone with a daughter of an elderly member whose dementia is getting worse.  That was hard.

Thankful: I'm grateful that dad is finally starting to feel better.  I visited with him briefly on my way home from work, and again after getting home.  The Hale Theater in Orem is putting on The Importance of Being Earnest.  Jessie and I went to see it a couple years ago at BYU and enjoyed it; Julie has never seen it.  Many years ago we did a reading of part of the play with Julie's brother Mark during a family reunion and everyone got a kick out of that.  We got four tickets to take Dad and Mom for Dad's birthday next month.  I'm grateful we can do that together.

Ministering: I found some Church resources that I did not know existed that will be very helpful to train our AP and YW presidencies.  I spent a little while at lunch working on that; I need to do more tomorrow because the training meeting is this Sunday afternoon.

More later…

Trevor Albertson shared some smoked salmon with me the other evening.  With the help of Jessie, Abbie and Spencer, this is all that was left after just a few minutes.

Don't fall out of bed!

Dear family,

Quick note tonight.  I love you all!

Love,

Dad

Thursday, January 14, 2021
9:37 pm

I was up four times last night, including twice when Camilla fell out of bed.  I'm really tired and heading to bed early tonight.

Work was really busy.  Suzanne was off today and will be tomorrow too, so I took a lot of stuff she normally takes… and that was a lot.  I spent too much time troubleshooting a couple different computer issues.  One is fixed, one is still pending.  Also started prepping for a system conversion for our debit card processing system.  Not really looking forward to that.  Fortunately most of the eight hours of required training are recorded and I can play it at double speed.  I'm learning from Julie and the kids! 😊

Rachel is here visiting for Amy McKinney's wedding on Monday.  Nice to have her with us.

Ministering: I swiped one of Julie's birthday cards to send to Kendall Curtis, whose birthday is Sunday.  I got it in the mail today, so it should be there on time.  Yea me!

Thankful: Clean home.  Food to eat.  Scriptures to read.  Family.  Sleep.

Rachel brought presents from the Missouri family.  Emma loved opening more birthday gifts.  What girl doesn't love fingernail polish?

I love to see the temple

Dear family,

Love Dad

Wednesday, January 13, 2021
11:15 pm

So tired. Need to go to bed. 

Yesterday I got to attend the temple for the first time in nearly a year.  Emma Osborn received her endowment before beginning her mission. They could invite 16 people, and her grandparents couldn't make it so I got to attend.  It was nice to be there, but I felt a little sad.  Pre-COVID I attended the temple every week.  It felt like "home."  Going yesterday didn't feel like visiting my Father's house; it felt more like being a visitor in a castle.  We were escorted everywhere as a group.  I totally understand why, was happy to comply with whatever was asked of me, and was grateful to be back.  But part of me felt sad nonetheless.  Fortunately, these restrictions won't last forever.  I look forward to the day I can go there as a member of the family again.

Last couple of days at work I have spent time visiting with employees to understand their ambitions, interests, skills, etc.  I realized that I don't want to clone the Provo office when we open Springville. I've got more questions than answers at this point.  Still working on possible designs.

Had virtual YM tonight.  I was really happy that Braxton Johnson (Strasburg) joined.  His family isn't very active, so the fact that he knew when we were meeting and had the link to log on makes me super happy.  We did a get-to-know-you activity that I think went pretty well.  We had about 8-10 young men on the call and 4-5 leaders (Trevor Cluff had to drop off a little early).  Overall I was pleased.

Here is what a selfie at the temple looks like in the COVID-era.

One day like another

Dear family,

I hope you have a terrific day!

Love,

Dad

Monday, January 11, 2021
9:24 pm

A day.  I got started working on the financial statements for December.  Had a meeting with the folks from Banzai, a financial literacy resource.  It is neat, but not getting enough traction with our members to continue to pay for it after our current contract expires in April.  Did some troubleshooting on a couple different tech systems that aren't working properly.  Got one fixed, still working on another.

Met with Sue this afternoon to talk about her interests and career goals.

Had a nice visit with Mark at lunchtime.  He is having a great experience in Texas, and God is putting people in his path that he can help.  That's a good feeling.  Hard to believe he's been in Texas for six months already.  I checked Argentina's COVID status while we were talking, and it looks like Mark will be in Texas for a while yet.  There are fresh incoming travel restrictions.  That's okay; there are good people everywhere who need to hear the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

FHE tonight was nice.  Neil did a lesson on love.  It was interesting that part of the lesson tended toward obedience leading to love, and love leading to obedience.  Those two are interconnected.

I need to find a time to study the scriptures consistently.  I used to study before work, but lately I haven't been able to get to sleep early enough to make that a reasonable option.  I realized today that I am feeling unsettled, and I attribute at least part of that to lack of diligence in my personal study.  I really need to repent; no way I can make it without the companionship of the Holy Ghost.

Thankful: I am thankful Scott's wife Stephanie is doing better and will be released from the hospital.  Scott said that last night she made "miraculous" improvement.  Fasting and prayer work.

Ministering: I tried to be a good person and minister to the needs of my employees today.  I will be doing this the rest of the week, meeting with one or two employees each day.

More later…

A view from Saturday's chores: picking up the rooms inchworm style.  You don't ever stand up; you scoot on your back from mess to mess.  I don't recommend this approach if you want to accomplish ANYTHING else during the day.

No more Secret of NIMH

Dear family,

You are all amazing!

Mark, would you please add Scott's wife Stepphanie to your prayers?  Their family contracted COVID and she is in the hospital with pneumonia.  I believe the prayers of a missionary carry special weight in heaven.

Much love to all,

Dad

Sunday, January 10, 2021
8:47 pm

Yesterday was a full day.  Started with chores around the house and cleaned the basement again.  Then Spencer and I went to Santaquin to help do some finishing work on a home Peter Jordan is building.  We put up a ceiling fan.  It was nice to have Spencer's help and I felt good about being able to help.

After helping at the Jordan's I performed a wedding for Brittaney Baldwin and Steven Lewis.  It's the first time I've ever done that; next time I'm going to remember to invite them to exchange rings.

In the evening David and family came down for dinner and to finish celebrating Emma's birthday.  We had delicious turkey noodle soup.

Today was good.  I woke up with Nathaniel about 4:40 am.  By the time I got him back to sleep it was nearly time to get up for my 6:00 am bishopric meeting.  I confess that I didn't feel terribly cheerful on my drive to Church.  I prayed for help to feel better, and noticed the help I needed.  Our meetings before Church went well.  I am happy about that.

Spencer gave a talk in sacrament meeting today; he did a good job talking about how he draws closer to Jesus Christ as a holder of the Aaronic Priesthood.  Amber Hillock also spoke following her mission.  Then I joined Spencer at the sacrament table as he blessed the sacrament in Church for the first time.  It was a great experience.  Brad Nusink caught me after Church and told me how much he appreciated seeing that; he felt it was a great example of being a father and serving alongside a son.  I was happy for that.  I can't take credit for the idea; I think Reid was the one who suggested that fathers join their sons the first time they bless or pass the sacrament.  Next week Caleb Ober will bless the sacrament and his dad will join him.

We set apart most of the new Aaronic Priesthood quorum presidencies this afternoon.  We did a family scripture activity, had a family council about choosing to speak kindly to each other, then did a scripture scavenger hunt that Spencer and Neil came up with.  Then I fell asleep on the floor for 45 minutes.  Ate dinner, then read Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH.  We decided that this book is too mature for the little girls; I'll give them an abbreviated version of the rest of the book tomorrow and let Neil and Isaac read it on their own.  Bedtime books that invite adrenaline are a terrible idea.

Thankful: We held individual Aaronic Priesthood classes this afternoon in place of a big group meeting.  I'm glad the quorums are now appropriately sized to let us do that.  We discussed the logistics of breaking the bread and offering the sacrament prayers.  We also planned a YM activity this Wednesday.  We haven't had consistent weekday meetings for the YM for a very long time.  I feel that this is important to resume.

Ministering: I hope I was able to minister to the young men in the ward today.

More later…

How many cousins does it take to blow out birthday candles?