A Father's Day

I'm going to share my day. Depending on how you read this it may appear braggy or annoying, like, who really cares about how wonderful my day was? Keep in mind this is just one day, not my whole life, every day. It was a great day so I'm going to write about it, dang it, whether it sounds annoying or not.

My day began with sleeping in until 7:00 am. I knew I was going to skip my first morning church meeting, so this wasn't a surprise. I normally wake up to an awful sound at 6:00 am. I got out of the shower and the aroma of bacon filled the house. I sat down to a nice family breakfast of English muffin fried egg and bacon sandwiches, kiwi fruit, cocoa puffs, and a smoothie. The kids must have thought I would like the puffs. And I most certainly did this morning. Before school got out for summer Ethan made me a Father's Day place mat, which I enjoyed with breakfast, as well. Myles made a card and inside drew a lovely picture of me. After breakfast another gift was presented. I got another big canvas to paint! I'm thinking I'll apply a cool blue color scheme this time. It should look good against an orange wall, which is another home improvement project that hasn't happened yet.

Well, I was a little late in getting out the door to the 8:00 meeting, so I stayed with my family and helped them get ready for church. At church I got my own little bag of delicious homemade cookies from the Relief Society presidency. I didn't have any small children with me so I got to have it all to myself. Though, I would have been happy to share. During the Sunday school lesson the teacher passed around taffy, so I took three for my kids to make up for hogging the cookies.

After church Kim put together a quick, simple, and tasty lunch of turkey multi-grain wraps loaded with spinach. After, I was surprised with my own special dessert of a Twix and Henry Weinhard's gourmet root beer. This treat was shared with the kids even though I didn't really want to. Don't worry, there aren't any hard feelings. Jack Johnson is right - It's always more fun to share with everyone.

















Then on the couch I napped, and napped, and napped. I came in and out of consciousness with children's voices and loving reminders to whisper because "Daddy's sleeping". I finally opened my eyes and saw another surprise. I don't think it was actually for me, but I enjoyed it. Kim and the kids painted a lovely nature scene of flowers, trees, clouds, birds, and the sun on the outside of the sliding glass door with tempera paint. I think we'll make this a regular event.

Then came dinner: wild salmon glazed with a homemade pineapple apricot jam (We feel like we can afford this luxury for special occasions because we have discovered the kids don't like salmon. Sorry, Grandpa. Your age-old salmon baking skills passed on through generations don't show much potential to be used by these grandchildren of yours at this time. Though, I'm sure things will change.); a fresh garden salad (I love having a garden!) with feta cheese and dried cranberries ; hot-out-of-the-oven-fresh baked crusty bread; and dark chocolate brownies with vanilla ice cream for desert.

I don't know what it is, but my senses have been heightened and I am filled with gratitude for all my blessings, from the simplest things, like how the blue-green wall in the kitchen interacted with the orange salmon, to the children's laughter, to my love for my wife and kids. The whole day has just been very simple and romantic.

I think being thoughtful leads to being grateful. I guess it's a good thing we have special occasions to help us to be thoughtful, even if they are commercialized. Too bad we aren't always as thoughtful as days like this. It just might make the world a better place for everyone.