David is Five!

David is now five years old! After a wonderful pizza dinner, we took the liberty of singing to David while he anticipated blowing out the candles on his cake:



After eating the cake, David got to open his presents. He got books and puzzles, a scripture bag for his copy of the Book of Mormon, and a water-scooping airplane.



He also received a tee-ball set, which we took for a test drive outside.

Easter

David and Analeigh got to go outside and hunt for eggs at our house after church today.



There was no need to push and shove because all the winnings were combined at the end so that everyone could enjoy the treats.

Flat Stanley

Years ago, when we still lived in Michigan, Ben's niece, Becca, sent us her school assignment. We had to take pictures around our town with a copy of Flat Stanley that she colored and mailed to us. We had so much fun doing it that Ben's niece, Hannah, sent us her Flat Stanley as well.

We're still working on taking pictures more pictures so that we can compile them into a video. In the meantime, here is Flat Stanley with David and Analeigh welcoming him to town:

Saving a Ton of Money

With the rising costs of, well, practically everything, we have been looking at ways to save money. We thought we had a stellar deal using Vonage for our phone services, as it provided us with unlimited calling throughout the U.S. and many other countries for $25.99/month (plus taxes & fees).

However, we've since learned better. We're now using Google Voice for free calls for the rest of the year (and possibly longer).

Google Voice is typically used as a free call forwarding service that will ring all your phones, allowing you to give out just one number to family and friends. However, Google has made it possible (not to mention free) to make and receive calls through your Gmail account.

Admittedly, it would be annoying to only be able to make a receive calls when your computer is on. That is where Obihai Technology, Inc. comes in. They make two devices: the Obi110 and the Obi 100, either one of which make it possible to use your Google Voice number through your home phone - even with your computer turned off. If you're interested in buying one for yourself, only buy it from Amazon when the page states that the item is "Sold by Obihai Technology, Inc. and Fulfilled by Amazon" (as seen in the image below). The Obi110 and Obi100 should sell for $49.99 and $43.99, respectively - don't overpay from a scalper, because Obihai won't honor the warranty.



The difference between the two is that the Obi110 has a FXO (line) port, and the Obi100 does not. This means, if you want to keep your current landline, you can plug that from your wall into the Obi110 to keep receiving calls on your old line. Then you can set it up to make outgoing calls through Google Voice, thus saving you enormous long-distance fees.

Once you've bought the best one for your needs, set up is a breeze (it took Ben less than 5 minutes). You can read more about the set up process at The Michigan Telephone Blog.

So, long story short, we have free calling. Since we can't use Google Voice for 911 calls, we did buy a Tracfone for emergencies. Even then, we're only paying $6.67/month for phone service. Since Vonage was costing us about $35 after taxes and fees, we'll be saving at least $300/year!

Once we drop our Vonage service in the next week or so, you'll have to dial our Google Voice number in order to reach us. And, if Google begins to charge for calls next year, causing us to change providers, we'll still continue using their call forwarding service, so this should be the last number you need to remember for us.

P.S. - If you have not yet received an e-mail from us providing you with our new phone number, send us an e-mail and we'll let you know.

Easter Egg Hunt

This afternoon the Ellsworth County Community Organization (ECCO) hosted an Easter Egg Hunt at one of the local parks (not that you would notice from their website, which hasn't been updated since a consignment sale they hosted in August 2010.

There was an Easter Bunny, which David did not want to go near and Analeigh appears to be ashamed of having a picture with. Later, they got to go out and hunt for eggs. While Analeigh dominated her age group, David took the more laissez-faire approach, resulting in fewer eggs. But that's okay, because he combined their winnings in the end - then we ate them.

Climbing Trees

Once upon a time David and Analeigh played contentedly in their sandbox under the apricot tree. But that all changed recently when they realized they could climb it - so they did.

Rejection

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to submit an article to the Ensign and have it rejected? Well, the e-mail below is what they send you when that happens. How do we know this? Because Ben submitted an article recently, which was obviously turned down.

Dear Author:

Thank you very much for sending us your submission. It is a pleasure to see new material. Every piece received is individually reviewed by the editorial staff.

Unfortunately, we will not be able to publish your work. Because of limited magazine space and the increasing number of such submissions as the Church grows, the Church magazines are able to publish only a very small percentage of the many good items received. We regret that the time it takes to process hundreds of incoming submissions does not allow us to make comments about each one individually.

Please accept our thanks for the time and effort put into your work. We know that submissions like yours are goodwill offerings in support of the Church. We hope the work that has gone into this one will be a benefit to you and your family.

Sincerely,
Ensign Editorial Staff

In case you are interested in reading it, you can do so by clicking here (a pdf file should open). Ben has taken the liberty of formatting the article with pictures to make it more interesting to look at - almost as if you were seeing it in the Ensign.
Also, in case you're curious, the images came from the LDS Public Affairs' Photo Library and the Gospel Art Book.

Our Little Monkey

Analeigh climbs everything. Yes, everything. This includes, but it not limited to, tables, cabinets, window sills, and her father while he's trying to eat dinner.

Priesthood Session

Every April and October, when Ben's dad would take him and his brothers to Priesthood Session and follow it up with a trip out to get some ice cream. Now that Ben is separated from his brothers by thousands of miles, the next best option is to eat cream while chatting on a webcam. So Ben did just that with his brother in Hawaii.

Elementary Carnival

The local elementary school had a carnival this evening with lots of games in all the classroom and other fun activities outside around the playground. One thing Analeigh insisted on doing was riding the merry-go-round because of the horses. David enjoyed himself too, no matter what the picture looks like.



After that we went to get some cotton candy. After all, what kind of carnival wouldn't have cotton candy?! Anyway, the kids thought it was delicious and kept shoving it in their mouths as fast as they could.

The Purple Room

We worked all last week (and did some touching up this week) and now have Analeigh's bedroom remodeled too! She chose purple, so her new sister is just going to have to deal with it (when she comes) if she doesn't like it.

The wood flooring was not in as good of shape as it was in David's room, but it will do for now. Maybe someday we'll get around to refinishing it.