Mike's Team BBQ

The are so many reasons why I was thankful for this BBQ.
 Mike's workers were able to meet his family and WE got to meet the team he talks so much about.

So for the entire week we cleaned and prepared our yard. I'll post what we did later since we really transformed our yard.

Anyways the day of our BBQ I was so excited I hardly slept.
Guest arrived at varied times. So while everyone was getting here Mike and Connor (one of this team mates) played on the trampoline.

Civilize jumping turned into a trick show off. This was entertaining to watch. 

Now Mike's turn. Haha! This guy has so many tramp tricks that Connor stood and watched for a few minutes.

Mike made his Salmon Ladder. So everyone gave it a try. For being their first try everyone did great but no one made it to the top.

Once everyone got here we said the meal prayer and feasted on burgers, hot dogs, and potluck sides.

 Mike and Amber.

 Jasen and Danielle sitting on my brand new painted bench.

Somehow arm wrestling was instigated. Mike (red) won Mike (white) 

 So Mike (red) played Mike (yellow) which only added another victory for him.
Yes my Mike works with several other Mike's so he just calls each one by their last name so this is what I did too. But I don't want to write down their last names on here so everyone is going to be called Mike instead.


During the BBQ we played a couple of "Get-To-Know-You" games. This helped me get to know everyone better and helped those who were not on Mike's team also learn about the work crew. It was just fun! Everyone had to write down something no one knows about them and we had to guess who that belonged too.
Then we played a game where everyone had to switch sides of our clothesline if the statement applied to them like..... they play an instrument or went on a mission. I had a list of like 25 questions ; all those questions I would ask Mike but he had no idea- I finally put them all down and asked everyone.

But toward the end of the BBQ Mike presented everyone with awards. Working for the church there is something called The Leadership Pattern.

Every worker, manager, employee, or supervisor tries to work with these patterns in mind. So Mike and I thought it would be great to acknowledge each person for their hard work and contribution to their team. Mike really wanted this to be special so we ordered some plastic trophies from Amazon and labeled each one with a quality from the leadership pattern. Sure this might have been betrayed as funny but once Mike started his speech everyone got quiet and were happy to be recognized in front of their family and friends for their hard work. 

Jasen was awarded "The Spirit Award" - Following the direction of The Spirit. 

Connor was awarded "Direction" Award- Define Direction.

Mike L. was awarded "Organize" Award- Organizing the work. 

Each worker came up with such pride that finally someone is noticing their hard work.

Mike was awarded "Render" Award- Render An Account

Matt was awarded "Counsel" Award- Counsel Together

Mike T was awarded "Build" Award- Building Capability. 

After speaking a few words about each person and giving them their ward my Mike thought his presentation was over BUT it wasn't.

I sneaked another trophy inside his bag the night before with his notes that was labeled "Example" so he can put it on the table as a decoration. But actually it was for him. I stood up and talked to everyone how much Mike really cares for each person. I talked about how Mike wanted to be different than other leads so he made that change. He understands that he's not just given stewardship over his team for their work goals but also their spiritual, temporal, emotional, and live goals. I teared up thinking all those phone calls in the middle of the night. The temple dates with everyone. The long talks after their shifts are over. The weekend car repairs he does. I explained that even though he clocks out Mike doesn't stop thinking about everyone. He wants each person to become a lead themselves and that I hoped they would follow Mike's example of showing love to each one of their future teammates.
I really don't remember what I said. I was in the moment and guided by the spirit on what to say. But I gave Mike the "EXAMPLE" Award and everyone clapped for him.

(Sure some of his team were not able to make it he gave out those award at work on Monday. And those people felt so happy to be given an award and cheered for. The photo above is with those workers who did attend. One day I will get an entire team photo.)

Miss Lily wanted an award too for being awesome. Connor let her play with his but then it was time to give it back. Small and simple things can make a big deal to someone. 

While the adults did their thing and watched a movie since it started to rain the kids played some more.

It was such an amazing experience that we are planning another one for the summer months. Perhaps with Mike's entire group instead of just his team. 

I'm thankful for this opportunity to make new friends, to see my husband open up to his team and allow them to see him in a more personal setting. I'm thankful for everyone coming even though we live in the middle of nowhere. I'm thankful for the amazing leader my husband is. I'm thankful that he works on such a wonderful team where each person takes care of one another. I'm thankful for this amazing day.