Monsters U.

On Memorial Day, some friends and I went to see Star Trek into Darkness at a local movie theater. We may have become the last people in Utah to see the film, but at least it's finally been checked off of the list of Films I Need to See.

At any rate, our mutual friend Rickey snapped the above photo of Pepe and me next to a display for the upcoming Monsters University as we left the theater.

Good times were had by all.

Day 149: Kenna's FHE Lesson

After enjoying an afternoon movie (Men in Black III) with some members of the family, I got to spend the rest of my Memorial Day with Mike's and Jana's clan, as I was a guest at their home for Family Home Evening. It had been far too long since I had attended an actual Family Home Evening rather than a singles ward- or mid-singles-sponsored event.

At any rate, McKenna gave the lesson, in which she talked about such values as: "ask first, because it might not be yours"; "think about what you do before you do it"; "it's OK to make mistakes"; and "help others when they need it."


She then asked everyone present which of these values they need the most work on. It was really an inspired lesson by my soon-to-be nine-year-old niece.

A Memorable Day at Nicholls Park

For today's Memorial Day holiday, the Plowmans invaded Nicholls Park in Fruit Heights for a picnic.

If my recommendation is worth anything, Nicholls Park is a nice little spot for this type of event. Until today, I didn't really know that it existed, even though I had previously passed it many times going either north or south on Highway 89.

At any rate, picnics, of course, involve a lot of food, and Jackson put a lot of it both in his mouth and on his face:


Jenna, Mike, and the others enjoyed some watermelon, carrots, pizza (now what would a picnic be like without that?), and the like:






Following lunch, a large group of us played "Cuub," a game that Mike's friend Jason introduced to us a few years ago and which has since become a staple at many of our summertime family gatherings. The rules of "Cuub" are kind of difficult to explain, but they involve throwing a set number of wooden sticks (eight per team) to knock over a certain number of wooden blocks from a certain distance away. (Everybody got that?) Here, Luke and Ben help to get the game set up:


In the first round, Ben, Steve, Biz, and I were matched up against Mom, Dad, Mike, and Dave.



There may be no fiercer competitor in my family than my mom when she really gets into the game, but somehow my team barely escaped with a victory. (If you're in my family, and you don't quite remember things happening that way, then start your own blog.)

In the meantime, Jackson played catch with a Frisbee, with varying degrees of success:



Jenna and Kenna played around in the water and near the communal drinking fountain:



At one point, Jackson got into trouble for clocking his older brother, Dallin, upside the head with one of the "Cuub" sticks, which made Dallin, as you might imagine, rather upset. However, after Jackson has finished paying his penance in timeout, his dad went over to sit next to him and to let him know that all was forgiven (I love these pics):



It was a fun-packed day spent with the fam damly, and I look forward to more of the same over the course of the rest of the summer.