19 June 2016 - Happy Father's Day!!!

This week has been busy with two special birthdays on the same day. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Rebekah and HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY Gracie!!! What fun to have two special people share the same day!
Monday Samuel had a double header basketball game. They won one and lost one. He played in the second game but didn't score. He had a great time! That evening we went to the Mitchell's home for a graduation party for their oldest son Ben. The served chicken salad sandwiches and Pulled Pork just like Ben & Carli's wedding open house. They really like the food there and asked for the recipes. It was fun to share and know that it was a hit.
Tuesday was picking strawberries, watering yard while Stephen worked on the chicken coop.  That evening Rebekah came by and we went out to dinner at Olive Garden. The gave her an awesome dessert and we splurged with an order of those little doughnut treats with sauce. (Vinay really enjoyed those.)

The birthday girl.

The special plate with a dessert just for  Rebekah.

The lucky ones that got to celebrate with Rebekah on her special day!

 Wednesday was much of the same in the morning but that evening was Young Men and Stake meetings for Stephen. I worked on cleaning up the pix in the office and emptying out cloth and clothes. We're trying to thin down and organize so we can get ready for the family in July!!!  ;-)
Thursday we spent the morning and most of the afternoon at Rebekah's place. That was her birthday present. She wanted her lawn mowed and her craft room organized. There was tons of things to do and organize. Stephen worked outside and I helped Rebekah inside. It looked pretty good when we left but more still had to be done. She's excited to have guests this July.

Craft room organized on the left.

Craft room organized on the right.

 Craft room organized down the middle.

Rebekah's yard got a trim and weeds pulled. Go Daddy!

Friday the chicken coop was done, painted and set up in the backyard for the chickens. We had to teach them how to use the watering system that was automatic and stephen made a handy feeder that we can fill and they don't scratch it out onto the ground. It's pretty nifty. Stephen wanted to leave the rooster out of the chicken coop and let him fend for himself since he eats most of the feed but he's in there with them for now.
Friday was the last day of school for Samuel. That meant that it was a half day and he came home early. He seemed a little bored for the remainder of the day but he survived.
Friday evening the Spanish Branch had a farewell for a sister missionary. They do a whole program and then have a meal after. The sandwiches were a chicken salad variety and then they had two cakes available. They were Tres Leche cakes in Chocolate with Caramel and Vanilla with Raspberry filling. They were the moistest cakes I've ever had. I had to ask who made them and they mentioned a Mexican market in Kent, La Huerta. I've been there before but I didn't know they sold cakes. We'll have to try one when everyone is here... ;-)
We bottled up two more batches of strawberry jam but this time I made sure to follow the recipe exactly and it turned out perfectly. The jars look wonderful and I water bathed them afterward so they'll last a long time. Besides strawberries, the raspberries are coming on and there are some blueberries that are ripening along with cherries on both the sweet cherry tree and the pie cherry tree.
Saturday I went to work and had some needy patients. It's interesting to see how people react so differently to having babies...lol. By the time I was done I drove home and quickly changed clothes so we could make the ward temple session at 5:00. The traffic was crazy but we made it on time. After the session, we had to hurry home to take Samuel to the Welch's home where they invited him to watch a movie and play games. Dale and Margaret Smith were talking with us at the temple and we invited them to choose a restaurant to continue the conversation and they chose Nikki's lounge in Covington. It was quiet when we got there but at 9:00 they started a band and very loud music so we left for the house after a nice meal. It was just too noisy to talk. We picked up Samuel at 11:00 so we were in bed late and we had early church.
Today is Father's Day - HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!! Stephen was able to talk with Ben on Google chat. It was 10:30 at night in London and Ben and Carli both looked pretty tired. It was so nice to see them as well as hear from them. I thought it would be great to do that with all the kids but so far Stephen has just had phone calls (which have been wonderful). Stephen was able to talk with his dad also. So it's been a nice day. Of course I fixed Roast Beef and mashed potatoes for dinner (along with asparagus and carrots) to go with the rolls that Stephen bought at Sam's Club. (He wanted to try them out). We also had fresh raspberries and Rebekah brought some Krispy Kreme doughnuts over for breakfast. Stephen bought himself a hitch for his truck since I didn't have time to buy him anything. Rebekah also bought him a book and a CD of piano music by Jason Lyle Black, his nephew. He seems pretty happy so it was a successful Father's Day.
Now Rebekah and I are getting ready to abandon Stephen and Samuel for the week. This coming week is a Youth Musical Pageant and Samuel is in it and Stephen will be helping out all day, so they will be very busy.
Hopefully everyone is busy in service and building the kingdom of God. Eternal blessings come with that kind of work... ;-)