Week in Review

It's been a busy, fun, and yet sad week as well; it's been one of those weeks-well a couple of weeks- that makes you grateful for the gospel and the promise of eternal life.
First of all, last week my Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. I don't think it's ever easy to hear news like that, and she's only 43. The good news is that it was caught pretty early, she met with the doctor this week and he seems optimistic about everything. I'm grateful for my Mom, she's so optimistic, at peace, and full of faith. You can't help but be reassured and hopeful when visiting with her. She's definitely the strong one, comforting and lifting everyone around her.
The other difficult event of the past week was the passing of my Dad's close cousin, Mark Benson. He was 41, and just diagnosed with leukemia about 4 months ago. It was a difficult battle right from the start and he left behind a wife and three little girls. The funeral will be on Monday, we wish we could be there. As I said before, this has been a week where we have truly felt the spirit of the Lord. Although it's sad, I don't believe there are many times when we feel the Lord's blessings, love, and spirit in our lives more than moments of trial and difficulty. There truly is a refining, humbling process that can only take place at times when you turn yourself and your will completely to Him and acknowledge the wisdom of His will and plan. It is also so comforting to know that there is purpose and a reason for everything, I love the verse in 2 Nephi 26:24, “He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his life that he may draw all men unto him…”

I think the biggest lesson I’ve come away with, is how grateful I am for the blessing of the atonement and a loving Heavenly Father and Savior, what a blessing life is, and how important it is to live our lives in a manner that if we were to die tomorrow, we would be ready and have no regrets about how we had lived our lives. This life really is a gift, and I hope I can make the most of mine, not worrying about the silly, worldly, and small things; but focusing on the big picture.

Even though it was somewhat of a stressful week, (I have a massive coldsore to prove it) we did manage to have some good times this week as well. Monday was a pretty rainy day, and the boys loved watching the huge rain drops hitting the back porch when they woke up. One things for sure, the downpours we get out here in the East and pretty awesome-they come in so fast, drop a ton of water, and then clear up completely.

The boys and I had a lot of time this week reading books and playing games. Some of the boys’ favorite games are: Candy Land, Chutes & Ladders, as well as Memory. They absolutely love playing the games and we have a lot of fun playing together. I’m grateful they’re getting to be pretty good sports, even if they don’t win. It’s fun to sit and play with them for a while. They also had some fun with Jeff this week- they had a pretty serious game of hide-and-seek and I’m continually amazed at some of the interesting places they manage to hide here in our little apartment. They also had a night out with Jeff one evening while Matthew and I were home. They ran errands together and stopped for a water ice on their way home.

We spent some time at the gym and also at the park this week. The weather has been alternating between rainy and sunny, so we tried to take advantage of the sunny days outside. Jacob and Caleb love the park, running around and playing on all the toys. Matthew just loves being outside.

We also went swimming three times. We’re fortunate to have a couple pools nearby. The boys love it, Matthew included, although he was a little more difficult to manage in the water until at the end of the week when I finally bought a little baby ‘float boat. Swimming was great every day, the boys love being with friends. Our favorite day, however, was Saturday when Jeff was with us. It’s always more fun to go swimming when Daddy’s there too! Our apartment complex has a pretty nice place with a big pool as well as a little kiddie pool. It’s fun when the boys play in the kiddie pool- Jeff and I sit on the side with Matthew and watch.

We also love the big pool, Jacob & Caleb have life jackets and are getting better and better at swimming with them; and now that Matthew has his little float boat, we have a great time in the big pool. The boys loved jumping off the side, but the favorite game of the day was playing “Catch the Boat” they’d swim around trying to catch Matthew. (Matthew doesn't normally swim with a shirt on :) Jeff just took him into the pool before taking it off. I guess he was excited :)

Jeff had a hold of Matthew and motored him around. They all thought that was pretty fun. And the best part is that everyone’s ready for a good nap when we get home. Saturday night we had a little get together with some friends to celebrate a birthday, which was fun too.

(Before we went swimming I was cleaning out some things & came across our snorkeling gear. Jacob & Caleb thought it was awesome and had fun playing with the masks & snorkels. They asked me what they were for and I told them they helped you to breathe when you were under water. I guess they must have misunderstood a little because I caught them in the bathroom not too long afterwards- using the snorkels to drink water from the tap…pretty funny) And last, but not least. Matthew finally started crawling this week! He’s definitely been our slowest crawler (Jacob was walking at this age) but I sure haven’t minded, it’s actually been kind of nice. He’s gotten around just fine for a couple months now by rolling, and army crawling. It was funny though, to see him on Friday just push up on his hands and knees and start crawling the right way. He’s a little wobbly and not real fast yet, but he gets better every day. He’s such a cutie, and we’re starting to see his two front teeth start to come in.

I’m grateful for the fun times, and also the hard times this week. Every day is such a blessing.