1st week of August

Not much going on these days with me trying to rest and keep my feet up. I’m always so grateful for those who help while I’m gone to doctor’s appointment and non-stress tests. They are angels who keep the kids going having fun. Here’s a little of our week:Max had a rash for 10 days. Weird. We finally took him to the doc and they said it was just a virus. He had a fever for 3 days and was super irritable for the rest of the time, but I think he’s finally over it. Yay.

We built a fort with blankets and chairs. The kids read the Diggingest Dog and ate a little lunch in there. It went much better once Tru was taking a nap. But it was mostly fun and was a good diversion.

Kids swinging outside. Tru could swing for hours I think. Hannah and Abe are good to help push him so I can side on the sidelines and observe.

Tru is such a cute little thing… but I’ll tell ya… that boy has a mind of his own. If it’s not his idea – he sooooo isn’t okay doing it. The picture on the bottom right makes me smile. The only thing besides church pants that I could find were those shorts… which appear to be one size too small. It was awesome. He parked himself right by me on the porch to watch the kids play.

Hot potato game – do ya think Max liked it? Oh yah! He didn’t ever want to toss it because he wanted it to end with him. They all laughed and laughed… well, until Tru accidentally threw it way too hard at Max’s head when he was 2 feet from him. Games often end in tears with the littles, don’t they.

Hannah – oh, Hannah… why did you decide to curl your hair around a comb? I worked on it for 10 minutes then turned it over to Jimmy. I was ready to cut bangs and call the stylist to bob and layer the rest. Jimmy, on the other hand, loves that Hannah is getting longer hair, so he stuck to that mess. He ended up cutting the teeth of the comb… and then snipped the comb into a few parts to get it out. 30+ minutes later, she just had a bunch of knots which finally came out.

Last of all… I had just said how nice it would be to have a treat today… and Sister Grow knocks on the door with a full pan of hot cinnamon rolls. That woman listens to the Spirit, I’ll tell ya. I think she did that 6 months ago right after I was longing for some cinnamon rolls. Yum! I’m so grateful for those who have brought food and have watched over us the past few weeks. Good people! I want to be as good (and aware of other’s needs) as friends and family have been to us.

These photos are from our one outing this week… my sanity to leave the house. We ate pizza at the park and the kids played. Hannah and Abe enjoyed climbing trees and playing frisby (until Hannah got whapped in the mouth). Tru loved the rocks. He sorted the little ones and climbed on the big ones. We hardly even saw Max because he was so busy going down the swirly slide. It’s fun to enjoy a park with huge trees, shade, and benches.

During my personal time/church today… I listened to Julie Beck’s talk from April 2011 Women’s Conference. I liked when she talked about the purpose of Relief Society… that it isn’t just to get together and socialize… but that it is to provide relief {“lifting up to a higher level of achievement, behavior in the Lord’s kingdom.”}

“We have an organization because we have a purpose. And when we have a purpose there is an expected work and outcome. Relief Society isn’t just a feel-good, get-together, let’s-enjoy-each-other, do-anything-any time-any-place for any reason. This is part of the Lord’s work… it has a purpose that was delineated by the Lord and His holy prophets.” Relief Society “provides an alignment with His purpose which helps us learn our unique duties and responsibilities…”

Anyhoo… all good stuff. It reminded me of how much I love the Relief Society Declaration.

p.s. ONE. MORE. WEEK. May the Light, Strength, and Power of God shine on us all … so we can endure. … endure well… sigh…