week 21.

Our weekend in Luna was cut short when my lungs got tight and my breathing became labored on Sunday afternoon.  After all of the allergy issues I've dealt with this spring, staying with the chance of a full-on asthma attack simply wasn't worth the risk to me.

But my poor little guys were heartbroken. Aidan sobbed when Jim started packing up a day early. "I...I...I just want to stay in Luna....forever." In our own beds on Monday morning. D asked me where he was going to grow up. "Um...here, with me, in Queen Creek," was my uncertain reply. To which he said, "Oh. I just wish I could grow up in Luna." I love that they love our yearly trips, their grandparents, their cousins, the forest. These are days they will always Remember..ones that will forever be curtained in the shimmery magic of childhood as they look back over the years.  This beautiful mountain country is a definite blessing to me & mine.

week 20.

When I dropped Aidan off for his first day of Kindergarten I left with a heavy heart and a load of worries.  His nerves were tangible.  And my own worries were mounted firmly on those I felt emanating from him.  Would he make friends?  Would he be happy?  Would he learn?  Would it be a replay of the not-so-fun preschool experiences last spring?  This week he graduated from Kindergarten and I'm grateful to say that none of those fears have been an issue this year. My Aidan is leaving the school year as an extraordinarily confident 5-year-old.  I couldn't ask for more.

week 19.

It was over a year ago that I was impressed when a young man bore his testimony at church.  He had just been baptized and was completely aglow in the Spirit.  I was completey ashamed when we drove home from church that day and saw him emerge in tandem from his own car...in the driveway right next to ours.  He was our neighboor.  Next door.  And I had known nothing about his spirit, his conversion, his gospel beginnings that were happening 25 feet from my own front door. 

Fast forward one year-ish.  Well, we've come to know Levi quite well.  We've also come to know his parents, Mike and Tammy.  And in this case knowing is loving.   And more than that, knowing & loving has also become wondering why in the world these two have not yet joined the church themselves.  Their morals, their testimonies of Christ, their family closeness are all evident. 

And we have now been blessed to share the gospel with them in our own home.  It has altered the tenor of my week entirely.  Pushed my focus beyond any worldly worries.  AND filled my home with the Spirit. 

week 18.

The boys headed off to our ward's Fathers and Sons outing on Friday.  Cyn and I followed on Saturday and met up with them on the Rim.  The weather was gorgeous and we spent a lovely afternoon relaxing in the hush of rustling pines.  The only kink in our day was when Jim noticed a flat on one of the toyhauler tires.  We'd have to fix it before heading home on Sunday.  Well, by nightfall, there was another kink.  Jim was feverish.  And with even a slight fever this man is out.  By morning, he was not any better and we still had a tire to fix and a 40-foot trailer to haul home (one that I do not feel comfortable driving, I should add).  Pretty sure that he did not have sufficient energy to both change the tire on a giant toyhauler and manage to get us all home safely, Jim put air into the tire and said a prayer that it would hold.  We waited for a few hours, and the air did hold.  So we decided to head out.  With more prayer, we tackled the bumpy dirt road and checked the tire again when we hit pavement.  Still holding.  And again in Payson.  Still holding.  Jim's fever broke and we made it home safely.  Where the fever immediately returned. 

I'm grateful for Prayer's power and the mercy of His watchful care.

week 17.

I have a Melissa friend.  Whose example of kind and selfless giving always stuns me.  But when she showed up at my house last Friday with cleaning supplies in hand, my pride made me first curse her {pushy!} kindness.  And then relent after a quick glance around the house.  Which told me that we did indeed need help.  Illness and pregnancy have given me a double dose of lethargy...and the house has definitely suffered.  In the end, I was grateful to have swallowed my pride.  She left me a few hours later with a beautiful home and a weight off my shoulders.  A powerful dose of Peace.