A week at home

We've spent most of this week at home organizing, cleaning, sorting and getting ready for 2017 - and for AARON TO COME HOME NEXT WEEK!! And, the boys have had really bad colds with coughs so I've been trying to stay home so they can get well. I put my gym membership on hold while we were gone and I reactivated it last week so I was excited to get to the gym this week. Well, plans have changed as I'm focusing on getting my little boys healthy again. I took Austin to the Dr. on Wednesday because I was certain there was something more wrong with him than just a cold, but he didn't have ear infections and his lungs looked clear so I'm just giving him liquids and Benadryl and ibuprofen for his mild fever. His top two teeth are also trying to pop through so I'm sure that's contributing to some of his fussiness this week. I asked my hometeachers if they'd come over last night and give Austin a blessing because the Dr. told me to bring Austin back in if he gets a high fever. I guess several kids had phenomena that the Dr. diagnosed this week so he said it was smart I took him in to been seen. My kind hometeachers came over and Austin sat so quietly as he received a blessing of health. I'm grateful for little opportunities to show my boys faith in action and how if they remain worthy, they can have the priesthood some day to bless the lives of others. 

Here are all the letters Aaron has sent to the boys and me these past 6 months. He's a great writer and shares his testimony and love for the boys and me in almost each letter so I want to keep them for us all to look back on and have as a memory from this deployment. In the next week, I want to write all that we've learned during this deployment because now that we're almost at the finish line, I'm sighing a big sigh of relief. 

 

When talking to Aaron one time this week, I told him our house looks like it's been taken over by a preschool, and I love it. Aaron and I were on video chat so I showed him the piles throughout the main floor - paint projects drying on the counter, the train table in the middle of the living room with several assembled train tracks, a bin by the kitchen table with legos turned into towers and rocket ships, and the little white table turned into a play oven for plastic truck muffins. The boys have been happier as I have station type activities for them to enjoy. I love watching their little minds pretend and create and I'm amazed at how much they're learning each day. 

 

These are the moments I'll cherish for always!