Father's Day

My dear family and friends, I have not written in two months and I just learned how to get the pics from my camera onto the computer!! So I hope to write more often. (I used to use my phone to take pics.)
My husband was gone to church for 11 hours out of our Father's Day! We missed him a lot and he did get home in time for baths, but this is what we accomplished in the meantime. Rachel made friends with Joe and Betty Mello's three daughters at church (they are new in our ward, we were once in the Crestwood Ward together back in 2001). She was really enthusiastic as she needs some girlfriends to play with.

We got home and ate lunch. My children had delicious tuna fish sandwiches for the first time in their lives. We packed lunch for Ben and then waited in the hot LV heat for Rachel (who was refusing) to get her seat belt on. Tiff fell asleep on the way to the church, Ray fell asleep on the way back. So Elijah and I cuddled up on the couch to watch Rigoletto. I slept and Elijah woke me gently with a Nutrigrain Bar. He covered me back up and said, "I love you." After all were up from nap time/quiet time, we went outside with Elijah to play a fun little game he made up called "Ice Cars". He greased and filled a large bowl with water and put some cars in it then stuck it in the freezer before church. Then he got a hammer and we all took turns whacking the ice block to get the cars out. He said that whoever got the most cars won. The girls didn't care about winning, they just liked hitting the ice with a hammer. So, Elijah won YAY!

The kids played for a little bit, Elijah and Rachel in the backyard with a hose. Tiff painted inside at the counter. She looked like a camouflaged soldier by the time I took the paints back.

I went grocery shopping yesterday to pick up a few special things to eat for Father's Day. Ben loves cinnamon rolls so we had them for breakfast. Tonight I BBQ'd steaks and cut up watermelon. For dessert we had ice cream sandwiches.

The kids were just getting into the bath when daddy came through the door (and had to eat by himself :( it was after 7.)

After baths we all sat down to present daddy with his card which everyone signed. This is the first time Elijah has aver written a note!! And then we gave him the story of George Washington praying at Valley Forge. I ordered the picture and it will be here in a week. Ben found a huge picture frame at Deseret Industries a long time ago and it's actually been hanging above the mantle in the formal living room pictureless. He said he wanted to get that picture to put in the frame. So here it comes! We love Ben so much and we had a really good day together. Rachel came and gave me a hug and said, "I love you". Tiffany reached up with her ice cream-covered hand and pat my head. This is me at the end of the day and I couldn't be more satisfied!