Because I'm too tired to make separate blog posts . . .

 . . . I'm going to dump a bunch of random photos and videos into this post in no particular order. 😁

Diana, Penny, and Douglas are ready for the wedding day of Nate and Valerie.

Douglas at the Draper Temple for Nate's wedding.

All of the kids love baby Ivy.

We visited Thanksgiving Point during the weekend of Nate's wedding. Here's Penny flying a plane in the Museum of Natural Curiosity.

I told Diana and Penny to act scared in front of the shark.

Schofield at Thanksgiving Point's Butterfly Biosphere.

Clayton, Kate, Taylor (holding baby Kendrick), Sam (holding baby Ivy), Spencer, and Schofield at the Airbnb house Grandma reserved for the weekend of Nate's wedding.

Penny

Harrison and Penny

Douglas, Diana, Penny, Maxwell, and Denali riding the wiggly things at Granny's house.

Sam tried out one of the wiggle things.

I don't understand Youtube. I uploaded four videos of the kids launching a rocket but it won't let me embed those particular videos into my blog post (maybe because they are vertical instead of horizontal?). So, here are the links:

Douglas - launch attempt #1

https://youtube.com/shorts/CRz3KY89Sr4?feature=share

Douglas - launch #2

https://youtube.com/shorts/3akiJXAHaDE?feature=share

Penny - launch #3 (I smiled to see her using her fingers as she did the countdown)

https://youtube.com/shorts/wAx5cJPQtq8?feature=share

Diana - launch attempt #4 (a "countUP" instead of a "countDOWN")

https://youtube.com/shorts/hUDOlIH3JRU?feature=share

A beautiful evening for a rocket launch.

On the fourth launch we decided to use a more powerful engine. It was too powerful! The rocket launched so high that the only thing the kids were able to recover was the bottom portion of the rocket. The cone and parachute floated off a few miles away from our launch site. We didn't bother searching for them.

Playing with baby Ivy at Grandma's house. Diana thinks something's funny on Grandma's phone.

Diana taking pictures of "Foxy."

Penny and Diana outside with baby Ivy.

I was sick while we were at Grandma's house. So, Stacie did some acupuncture on me.

Diana was worried about the needles in her Dad's face. She made sure I was comfortable.

We've had our minivan for six years. The bluetooth headphones that came with the van sat untouched for those six years. We tested the headphones last month and the kids love them. I love them too, because now I won't have to listen to Octonauts or The Incredibles the next time we go on a road trip. 😁 I still get to hear the children's cute reactions (laughter, singing along, Penny's raptor screeches, etc.) to whatever they are watching, but without having to hear the show itself. The vehicle only came with two sets of headphones. Diana is using my headphones in the photo.

Diana's interesting use of the umbrella.

Sam put Diana and Penny in a tumbling class. They love it! It's only held once each week, but oh how they look forward to tumbling.

Diana likes to dress up.

Sometimes her dressing up includes wetting her hair and sticking a leaf to it.

Penny playing outside. We should put her in a kickboxing class.

The neighborhood kids (including Roman, Petra, and Savannah) like to hang out at our place.

We celebrated Joseph's birthday earlier this month.

Joseph, Sam, Penny, Denali, Diana, Grandpa, Gideon, Douglas, Maxwell, Ari, Granny

The kids like to ride down a pathway near our home. Here's Penny waving as she goes by.

Diana

Sam had the kids fill the blanks for me on Father's Day.

I suppose I'm turning into an old man. I still enjoy reading the newspaper.

Sam took the kids to a nearby park/trail.

Because I'm becoming an old man, I'm trying out a new emoji.

You are not old, Daniel-son.

Happy 5th Birthday, Penny!

 

Penny started her 5th birthday with a trip to Urgent Care to get some medicine for an ear infection. She's had a cold and cough for a few days and last night the illness moved into her ear.

Despite the pain in her head, Penny is enjoying her birthday today.

We watched the new Sonic 2 movie recently, so the kids were thrilled when the Sonic characters appeared on Penny's birthday cake.

This is one of Penny's birthday presents.

Penny with her siblings and birthday presents. She's a happy birthday girl!

Douglas's Baptism

 

With Douglas before the start of the baptismal program.

In the baptismal font. Maxwell Frye (far left) and Gideon Frye (far right) were the two witnesses. The other children watching up close are (left-to-right) Schofield (Douglas's cousin), Penny, Porter (a friend in our church group), Denali (Douglas's cousin), and Harrison (Douglas's cousin).

Douglas and Colton - the two boys from our church group who were baptized today.

After the baptism we came back to our home to enjoy some food and family time. Here is Gideon on Thomas the Train.

Margaret, Marcia, Joseph, Sara (holding baby Kendrick), Kelly, Ari

Doug, Kate, Lauren (our neighbor), Nate, Valerie

Diana being goofy

Sara holding baby Kendrick

Jori, Spencer, baby Ivy, and I think I already mentioned everyone else.

Family photo with the Ogden side - Ari, Gideon, Sara, Maxwell, Kelly, Marcia, Denali, Joseph, Penny, me, Diana, Sam, Douglas

Chatting in the living room

Family photo with the Coombs side - Diana, Kate, Nate, Valerie, Douglas, Sam, Penny, Jori (holding baby Kendrick), Spencer, Schofield, Doug, Margaret, Harrison

Douglas's journal entry for today.

Douglas received this card from his Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Kate, and Aunt Stacie

Douglas received this card from his Aunt Taylor

Douglas received these pages from his Granny Ogden

Douglas's Aunt Kate made this drawing for him

Douglas had a goal to finish reading the Book of Mormon before he was baptized. He accomplished his goal. Along the way we would often sing "And it came to pass," which is the phrase that begins many of the verses of the Book of Mormon. So, we decided to make a shirt in honor of Douglas accomplishing his goal. Unbeknownst to us, Douglas's Aunt Taylor sent a game called "And It Came To Pass" as a baptism gift for Douglas.

Twas a wonderful day! Douglas was very excited and happy all day. We are grateful for our friends and family members who contributed to making this day special for him and for us.

Happy 8th Birthday, Douglas!

 

Douglas turned eight today.

Douglas, Diana, Penny

I got to FaceTime the family to participate in the birthday fun.

Grandma participated in person.

Sam made a LEGO cake with edible LEGO candies.

This is not a birthday photo. Diana is being potty-trained these days. In this photo she received a sucker for using the toilet. Douglas and Penny also got suckers for Diana using the toilet. Diana is quickly transitioning away from diapers. Hallelujah!