Mother's Day weekend

Last weekend I did have a Furlough Friday. I did errands in the
morning and spend the afternoon getting ready to feed missionaries.
Benjamin cleaned, organized and worked his magic. I really should
check with him when to sign up for the missionaries because he is the
one that mostly makes sure the house is presentable. He also sets up
a table in the family room, decorates and sets it. Then he usually
helps with the food prep, too. His wife is going to be a lucky woman
for many reasons.

He also made sure we invited his siblings. I didn't think they would
necessarily be interested as the family was gathering for Mother's Day
and they might think it too much of a good thing. Hinds were busy,
but Debi and Miriam came. ; ) Baked Potato and Salad Bar. yum!

Saturday morning Benjamin and I joined the rest of our Stake on our
Mormon Helping Hands service project at East Lawn Memorial Park. Some
of us wonder why we were working at a business instead of a city,
county, state or national park like other groups. I suspect that they
were leaning on the word 'park' in their name and that people from the
neighborhood do go walking and jogging in the cemetery. People coming
to tend and put flowers on their mother's graves thanked us. (Ben and
I were cleaning dirt and debris off headstones.) I wondered, but on
the other hand we were following the counsel of called leaders,
enjoying a lovely spring morning, getting mild exercise, spending time
together, and doing something good. They had donuts and orange juice
in the morning and were going to have hotdogs, chips and soda for
lunch, but we didn't eat either. (Later that day I threw a package
of hotdogs on the grill because they had gotten me in the mood.) Ben
wanted to keep a vest, but they were collecting them. Later I learned
that a friend asked and was allowed to keep TWO. Sorry, Benjamin!

We watched Jared and Esther Saturday afternoon-evening. The boys
played with them on the tire swing while I worked on diminishing a
pile of tree branches that have fallen, been trimmed by linemen,
and/or been trimmed by neighbors who didn't want the over hang and
tossed over the fence. This will be an bit of an on-going project. I
also keep wondering if I should invest in a small power saw. The kids
played with the Wii and made their own pizzas. My original plan was
to drive the kids and the uncles back over to Hinds, put the kids to
bed, and then leave the guys standing watch while I went home.
However Benjamin had gone off on a couple of more service projects
which kept him much longer than anticipated and an hour past the kids'
bedtime, he was not yet home. I took them home, eventually got them
to bed, and then napped on the couch.

Sunday was Mother's Day! Debi had sent a dozen tulips to my office
on Thursday. They came in a sturdy box which fit nicely in my bicycle
bag when it was time to go home. They looked very pretty in the
middle of the table for Friday's dinner. Sariah ordered flowers, too,
but they had not yet arrived by Sunday afternoon. Benjamin made me
breakfast Sunday. Joseph did my morning chores. Miriam came to
church at my ward. All the young children sang to the mothers. The
youth handed out Hershey Kiss roses they had made plus a little packet
of more Hershey Kisses – in case the mothers now wanted to eat
chocolate but didn't want to mess up their roses? After church
Miriam, the boys and I had lunch at a park – croissant sandwiches and
fruit. Yummy. Then we hurried over to Ruth's where everyone one
would gather for Andrew's phone call and dinner. (LDS missionaries
only get 2 phone calls home a year – Mother's Day and Christmas – it
is much anticipated!) I got to talk to all 3 of my out of town
children, but unfortunately our missionary phone call was shorter than
I expected and they didn't get to talk to each other. The Sacramento
group enjoyed BBQ chicken, a great pasta/artichoke heart salad,
pineapple, strawberries, and killer chocolate truffle brownies. Ruth returned my camera which she has borrowed for ages.  I got a Stampin'Up order in. ; )  When
I got home, Sariah's bouquet was waiting on the porch. It was a
lovely day.
; )