Some Time Around Father's Day Weekend 2024

Abe and his kids, son-in-law, grandson, and Grover:) He loves his people and we love him.

It's another episode of Abe Versus the Pigeons!  They win sometimes... he almost wins sometimes.  

We've had some pigeons nesting under our solar panels, and Abe has been trying to get rid of them.  Destroying their eggs didn't work.  Ordering a decoy owl off of Amazon and mounting it on the roof to frighten them away didn't work.  So Ben brought over his BB gun.  We've all (including Abe) gotten quite a few laughs out of the battle of the pigeons.  I believe that as of writing this, the Abe has been victorious and the pigeons have moved on.  He says the turning point was when the owl tipped over and somehow that freaked them out.  It's very hard to say what prompted their departure.

I love this picture because of what it represents to me-- this picture is fatherhood.

--Here is Abe on a Sunday morning, dressed in his white shirt because he will shortly be headed to church. He is a man who trusts in God and tries to lead his family to Christ.

--Here is Abe patiently and kindly teaching Peter how to hold/shoot a BB gun.  He treasures his children, and he willingly gives all of his time and resources to bless their lives.  

Here is Abe standing on the backyard grass, which he bagged as per my request when he mowed it, and that he keeps nice for our family to enjoy. Always battling the pigeons of life for us!  Happy Fathers' Day to the best of the best.

We had such an enjoyable Father's Day-- my dad joined us with the request that everyone ask him one question.

So we all sat around and took turns asking our questions-- and it was actually GREAT!  Questions about his childhood, his military career, request for his best advice.  I think he really appreciated it and we enjoyed his stories.

Grandma and Grandpa brought delicious strawberry shortcake for dessert.

Cornhole in the backyard on a beautiful summer evening with people I love?  Yes, please!

A hilarious moment at church when we played a little Father's Day joke on our good husbands. Courtesy of their tricky little wives, they all happened to show up wearing the same tie. Watching each of their faces as they arrived and realized what was going on was priceless. 

 When we arrived, Abe immediately came upon the bishopric just as they were realizing something fishy was going on.  Bless Abe's heart-- he figured there must have been a really good Amazon sale.

I don't want to brag or anything, but Daniel is the cutest grandbaby ever.  There, I said it and I'm not taking it back.

We had a grand time at an outdoor showing of See How They Run in Bluffdale.

Actually, that one was the second outdoor summer show we saw.  The first one was Cash on Delivery.  Is there a more enjoyable way to spend a summer evening?  

They had some of the Newsies cast passing out popcorn to the audience during intermission.

Ready for another hike!

This one was up Yellow Fork on our favorite ridge hike.

Faith was working and Elinor was not interested in joining us.  Her childhood dislike of hiking remains unchanged in adulthood. Fortunately for her, she doesn't have to come if she doesn't want to.  The joy of adulthood!  

It's always a party when Ben and Bethany join us.

We recently celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary.  Not too shabby, eh?

Cannon is about the same height as Abe.  

Pointing out the temples we could see from the top.

Last year Greta cried at about this point on the hike, but she was stronger and tougher this year.

THIS

The lizard-catching team.  

Ben treated Greta to a little ride near the end when she was tired.

Lizard catching is always part of the experience.

First outdoor movie of the season-- National Treasure

Great and I always bring out a mattress and snuggle during outdoor movies.  

Abe got a free Lagoon ticket from work, so he decided to take Peter and Greta along with him.  When we go to Spokane to visit family each summer, we usually go to Silverwood, an amusement park in North Idaho. That means we rarely go to Lagoon as a family and we realized our youngest two had never been to Lagoon.  

These two have normal sibling disagreements from time to time-- especially when they are tired or have played too many video games.  But I will say, I enjoy how often they do get along and how good they are to each other.

My cousin Rachelle and her beautiful family came over for a hot dog roast and games.  We love them and love that they live close by after many years of living across the country.

Samantha and Brooklyn (their two oldest) were in the same seminary Clark as Faith and Cannon last year.

Peter and Johnny are about the same age.

We played a game of Mafia and easily found the head debaters of each family-- Cannon and Samantha enjoyed a lively discussion! It was great fun. 

Abe and Brandon-- good dads on a good Father's Day weekend-- give or take a week or so:)