Gratitude

I'm going to be honest with you. This has been a lousy week. Dave was in Florida for a conference for 5 days. 4 out of 5 of my kids had the stomach flu. I never wanted to fix dinner for fear of seeing it later that night. I couldn't leave the house. We all missed Dave. A lot. The older kids were pretty easy to take care of, but Levi was m-i-s-e-r-a-b-l-e. We had to miss church because he started throwing up as we were walking out the door - that was a real bummer because I'd gotten up extra early to iron all the clothes and have plenty of time to get ready. Plus my friends had a violin/cello duet that I was really looking forward to. On Monday for Family Home Evening I talked about gratitude. I told a story by President Monson from last November's Friend. It was about a woman who was almost completely blind but had a happy life because she was always so grateful for every blessing. When her sight was restored later in life, she appreciated all the little things. The phases of the moon, a bird in flight, light reflecting in the dish soap bubbles. I explained to the kids that although we'd had a rough few days (they all nodded), we had so much to be thankful for. We missed dad, but we were grateful for his job. We had lots of sickness, but they only 24 hours each and we appreciate our health so much more when it's over. Then we made a huge "Welcome Home Dad" sign and hung it on the garage door. That night Dallin got sick. One tender mercy was that I woke up for no apparent reason about 30 seconds before he started throwing up. So I was able to get there quickly to help him. The next morning I asked him how he felt. He said, "I'm happy. Even though my tummy hurts, look at that beautiful sunrise." Dave got home last night. And then I got sick early this morning. As I sat on my bathroom floor feeling miserable, I thought - well at least I got it after Dave came home. He was able to help the boys get all ready for school this morning while I slept in. If we look for things to be grateful for, we'll find them. Even during stinky trials.

Dave brought back this real alligator head for the boys. They love it.