Our ancestors and old-fashioned photos

 Sam enjoys teaching the children about our ancestors. This week, along with learning about one of Sam's ancestors, we used a fun feature on FamilySearch.org to put our faces in some old-fashioned photos.

Sam, Penny, Daniel, Diana, Douglas

Diana and Penny

Daniel and Sam

Sam and Penny

Penny and Douglas

Daniel, Douglas, Diana

Douglas speaks in Stake Conference

 

Three weeks ago Douglas was asked by a member of our stake presidency to speak in today's stake conference. Douglas readily accepted the invitation and thanks to his mother's efforts, and Douglas's brain, he quickly memorized his talk and he delivered it in the meeting today without the slightest bit of nervousness. I, his father, felt some anxiety and I wasn't the one speaking.

My mom ("Granny") recorded Douglas giving his talk as she watched it from home. If you listen carefully as Douglas adjusted the microphone, you can hear Granny coaching Douglas to "take your mask off." 😀

We took Douglas to the chapel a couple of times to practice his talk before the real thing.

Golf with Grandma, visiting the capitol building, Easter video, redneck ice bath

 
For one of his reading awards, Douglas got to spend two days with Grandma's attention all to himself. They went golfing, among many other things.

Meanwhile, the girls had the house all to themselves. At night they wanted to have a sleepover, so Sam slept on the mattress with Diana and Penny slept on the couch.

Sara and Sam took the children to tour the Utah State Capitol Building.

Ari, Jude, Gideon, Maxwell, Douglas, Sam, Penny, Diana

Sam had to stop at the grocery store on the way back from the capitol building. Diana fell asleep with a party blower in her mouth.

I made this video for the children on Easter Sunday.

There is no nudity in this video, so don't worry about being mentally scarred for life. I'm wearing a swimming suit.

"Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." - Alfred Lord Tennyson

The charming little church I visited.

This was a fun rental car.

Chick Hatching

A few weeks ago Grandma brought an incubator and fertilized eggs to our home in order for the children to see the chick hatching process.

This week the chicks hatched.

The chicks were moved into the garage after they hatched. This is their home for a few days until we give them to a friend who wants to raise them.

Sam and the children named all of the chicks. This one is Peep.

Fluffy Penny or Piglet Penny (depending on who you ask)

Sparky

Cookie

Carlos (from the Magic School Bus)

These last photos are of Ms. Frizzle (also from the Magic School Bus). Unfortunately, Ms. Frizzle took too long to hatch. She couldn't get out of the shell. When she finally hatched, she was a weak chick and couldn't walk properly. Sam brought one of the healthy chicks back to the incubator to keep Ms. Frizzle company, but the healthy chick began to peck at Ms. Frizzle. So. after giving Ms. Frizzle a day or so to see if there was any improvement, Sam made the tough decision to end Ms. Frizzle's life instead of allowing her to suffer or be pecked to death by the other chicks.

Here's a short video of Diana answering questions about the Magic School Bus characters.