2.3.22 Snapshots

Afton celebrated her birthday thanks to her sisters. I had a fever and was not in the mood to do more than keep breathing. Her sisters are wonderful! I was thankful the night before we had made her cupcakes before I got sick. She was so excited to have her birthday at school. She has really taught me a lot about the importance of kids having friends and an independent life from home. 

These two continue to love art class. I'm thankful they can spend time with their art teacher she is a great lady. 

This lady finally has hair it is so curly. 

One of the hard things about winter is staying inside. The kids have been working on puzzles. I think this is a great exercise for their brains and working together. 

We love our weekly visits with this lovely lady. Mission life settled on her well. 

Unfortunately most phone calls end in a catastrophe. Last week was a rough week. Bruce got a black eye from being pushed into a board and Merle got a cut on his head then when I was talking to Anna he fell off the bench and got a fantastic bloody nose. 

He was covered in blood I had blood on me. It was a mess. Usually when the accident happens I hang up quickly and take care of the problem. Then I tell the missionary things are okay and that's the end of the day. There always seems to be a lot going on, even when it's not especially productive. There's a lot of days that are just living. Doing laundry, cleaning up, keeping life going... I think that's normal. With all the talks about the need to be setting goals and growing it's easy to get discouraged that we aren't doing enough. Yet I had two days this week where I was shown we are in fact making progress and it's ok. You can't check growth by pulling up the entire plant because it is then dead. So I have to trust that some of this just passing time is in fact necessary and part of mortality. I am thankful for tender reminders that this too shall pass and it's okay where we are today not especially amazing but holding on and maintaining the line. We are blessed.