Jackson's Baptism

My eight-year-old nephew Jackson was baptized into the LDS Church by his father (my oldest brother, Mike) two Saturdays ago. Much of the family, including Scott and Claudia and their kids, came to support Jackson in this momentous decision.

Yours truly got asked to give a short talk on baptism, while Jana's sister Amy spoke on the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Prior to the service, Jackson posed for this photo with his Grandma Plowman and oldest sister, Kylee:

It was a phenomenal day, and I'm proud of my nephew and his choice to follow the path of the restored gospel.

My Dinner with Jackson 2016

My brilliant, funny, creative, and energetic nephew Jackson turned eight years old recently and, as our tradition goes, we went out to eat dinner together for his birthday:

. . . after which we went to the store so he could pick out a present for himself.

Like yours truly, the kid likes the simple pleasures, like McDonald's and LEGO bricks.

Conference Breakfast

On General Conference Sunday, as is our custom, we gathered together as a family (minus Ben, Adi, Christian, and their two-day-old baby Graham) for breakfast prior to the morning session. Jackson was there for the video games:

. . . but he also emerged out to listen to the prophet's message.

The kids participated in an Easter egg hunt one week after the actual holiday, as we were not able to get together on Easter Sunday. Jake and Kira picked up a lot of good loot:

After the conclusion of another fantastic conference, Kylee and seven-month-old Daniel enjoyed a cool breeze on the back porch:

The strawberry we put into Daniel's pacifier kept him busy for quite a while.

Graham Benjamin

My twelfth niece/nephew (in this case, nephew) Graham Benjamin was born April 1 to his proud parents, my brother Ben and his wife, Adi. It was a very pleasant April Fools' Day surprise for our family.

So far, two-year-old Christian has been a great big brother to Graham:

Graham is actually a family name; it was my British grandmother's maiden name.

Improvables: Girl Power! 2016

A few weekends ago, the Improvables hosted our second annual ladies' night performance. Brianne, Cassie, Charlotte, Erica, Jamie, Megan, and Shannon from our own troupe were joined by four talented gals from other Wasatch Front troupes.

The evening began with "Da Doo Ron Ron":

. . . and ended with "Greatest Hits":

I may be a bit biased here, but the evening was fantastic, and just as great if not better than our "regular" (irregular) performances.