Ten on Tuesday

Aaron, Jeff, John, Joe, George, Brad

1.  Have you ever wondered if people really play dodgeball?  The answer is yes!  Aaron and the guys he works with were in a tournament on Saturday...firefighters against cops.  It was actually really fun to watch.  They made it to the semi-finals.  I was impressed!

2.  I have healthy children!  What a blessing.  That was a bad bout of sickness for us, and I'm so glad I'm not listening to hacking coughs all day and night.  Cruz is still getting over his whatever he had, but he's coughing less than he has in two months.

3.  Seeing as the germs are gone, I'm ready to get my couch and carpets cleaned and do some spring cleaning.  Anyone know a good carpet cleaner?

4.  I'm heartbroken for the people of Japan during this time of disaster!  Does it not just make you feel such a sense of urgency?  We are truly living in the last days, and I feel such an urgency to be prepared physically and spiritually.  I love the quote by Sheri Dew that says "the last days aren't for faint of heart of spiritually out of shape."  I think we need to be ready to run spiritual marathons if we are to stay strong against all that will come in these times we are living in.

5.  Speaking of this, Zander gave our family home evening lesson all by himself last night.  No help from us except for the testimonies he asked us to bear at the end!  He had ten pieces of paper laid out in a path with a picture of the Savior at the end.  He asked us, "Do you think I can jump from the first paper to the end?"  He and Zackery took turns trying, but were unsuccessful.  He made his point that we can't do one big thing to make it back to Heavenly Father and Jesus.  It's all about the little everyday things.  Then he had us take turns naming the little everyday things (read scriptures, say prayers, follow the prophet, obey mom and dad, don't fight with brothers, say nice words, go to church...) while he walked along the papers, one by one, to the end, the ultimate goal.  What wisdom!!

6.  Back to Japan, I read an awesome story about a four month old baby girl that was reunited with her parents today.  The baby was literally swept out of their arms on Friday during the tsunami.  For four days, they've mourned her loss thinking she was gone, and then today soldiers heard her cry as they were pulling bodies from flattened houses.  Wow!  Talk about miracles!

7.  I'm thinking that our few weeks of sickness are nothing to complain about when looking at the bigger picture!

8.  Today is my adorable nephew Bennett's birthday.  We wish we were there to celebrate with him!  He's loves Toy Story right now, so we sent him some little figurines to play with.  I can just see him lining them all up to look at over and over again.  We love you Bennett!  Zander wants to know when you're coming back.

9.  Went and saw Rango yesterday.  It was a cute movie...crazy animation!  Definitely PG and not G.  Kelsey loves Johnny Depp so much even the sound of his voice makes her smile.  She gasped really loud when they showed a preview for Pirates 4!  It will be a good one!

10.  Dinner turned out yummy for dinner group tonight.  I love it when that happens.  I will post recipes soon on the recipe blog.