A week apart and then together for Father's Day

Tuesday morning Justin left with the priests for their summer campout at Lake Powell. Henry and the rest of the young men and leaders left on Wednesday. I had a lot of pictures of Justin's to choose from and I wish I could tell you all the details but I can't. I do know they had fun boating and tubing, got in a wild windstorm that tested their resolve, went on a great hike guided by Justin's cousin, ate well, slept okay and were hot hot hot. Here are some pictures.

Here's our faithful bishop driving home. I was so concerned for him all week. It's hard to be in charge. It's really hard to be in charge of a campout of 20+ boys far from home and in an inhospitable place. But judging from the boys' talks the next day in sacrament meeting, he did a good job.

Meanwhile at home: 

I just want to note how nicely my trees and shrubs are all growing. They are my favorite things to grow.

Sarah and James had kid camp all week long. Sarah as counsellor (as part of being on the city youth council), James as participant. 

The year's theme was Olympics so the kids were divided into countries for the week. James was in the Philippines group. He had a blast. He asked every day if I could sign him up for next year. 

With Justin and Henry gone we had a quiet week. The kids hung out with friends and I barely cooked. I did lots of yardwork though.

Saturday evening when Justin and Henry got home, Erica and James did their Father's Day Magic Show. They did such a great job. Erica had been practicing tricks all week and even though I had seen their rusty beginnings, I was tricked too!

Father's Day! The best part of Father's Day is no extra meetings for Justin. It feels like a holiday just to have him home on a Sunday.

But we still have early church so we only had time for a picture.

Afterward church the kids and I gave him some presents. Sarah gave him a gel headache hat, Henry gave him a new grill brush, I gave him an under the grill mat, Erica gave him squeezy sauce bottles and this:

 
And James gave him some BYU ice cream and this:

It's a tiny bbq grill he made at a primary activity.

These kids love him so much. Well I do too but it's fun to watch them make a big deal about their dad.

After a much needed nap, we made dinner. Steak, chicken, shrimp, roasted vegetables, fruit salad and homemade lemonade.

But before we ate Justin tried out his portrait setting on his phone on us.

For dessert I surprised him with a Basque cheesecake. I first heard about this Spanish cheesecake on Thursday, made it Friday in the midst of a power outage,  and we ate it Sunday. I think we all liked it. It's much easier to make than a NY cheesecake and a fun and interesting texture.

We are doing another week apart this week. Justin left today for Colorado for work and Sarah left for girls camp. Sarah will be back Thursday. Justin will be back Wednesday but he's got more work this week in Ogden and a father and sons campout Friday night. Then next Monday he leaves for 6 days to Minnesota. Sigh.