Small Things

This week we got a day of rain. Our back yard is getting greener each day! On Saturday I picked two small ears of corn. I also picked a ripe watermelon.

This is a muskmelon. We bought the seed at Monticello (Thomas Jefferson's home).

We enjoyed it with friends on Saturday night. We celebrated the Fourth of July in a fairly casual manner.

On Thursday night we went up to P. to stay with Mama’s BYU roommate and her family. In the morning we went to the temple. On Friday night we stayed up late and cracked 20 dozen eggs.

They were for our congregation breakfast celebration on Saturday morning. Mama is part of the activities committee. Underfoot and Daddy cracked most of the eggs while Mama put the mixed up eggs into 1 gallon containers. Underfoot and Daddy had fun cracking the eggs on the back patio while there was thunder and lightning. We got a lot of thunder and lightning, but not a lot of rain.



After the breakfast on Saturday, we came home and rested. We decided to have an impromptu BBQ at our house. Some friends came for ribs and other tasty treats. We visited as the children played on the swings and in the house. It is nice to finally have the back yard in order such that Wendy feels comfortable having the children play outside.

Later that evening, a friend took me for a ride in his homemade sports car. It is an early 1960’s Lotus replica. It weighs about 1500 pounds and has a supercharged Pontiac V6 motor. It certainly was fun to ride in. It was loud, too. It wasn’t the engine that was so loud, but the wind noise, even with ear plugs. After the ride we put on a DVD for the children while the adults played a game of Settlers of Catan. It was a lot of fun.

Mama has returned to teaching piano lessons. She has several students who come for a 30 minute lesson. The piano lessons motivate Mama to keep the house tidy and provide her with a little bit of extra cash. We are grateful that she can do that.

Mama started a job chart for Underfoot this week. It has been very helpful for him and us. He has 4 morning jobs and 4 evening jobs. Each time he completes one of his jobs he is rewarded with a Cars sticker. He chooses the sticker, Mama or I peel it out of the booklet for him, and he places it on his job chart in the appropriate box. If he completes all 4 jobs (in the morning or evening), he gets a 5th sticker that he can put on his shirt. I’m very grateful that Mama has implemented this simple reward system for Underfoot. It helps us teach him about chores and allows him to contribute to the overall cleanliness of our home.

K2 has developed a heat rash this week. We really didn’t know what it was until Mama asked a nurse in our congregation about it. We’ve learned that children don’t develop sweat glands until they are 6-8 months old. Because K2 doesn’t have sweat glands, his body uses the rash to cool down. We have been trying to keep him cool.

This week we have both learned about the small and simple things in life. Regardless of how tough things get, it is the small and simple things that we do which make the difference- both in our lives and in the lives of those around us.