! I do know it's very hard to see a strong man be so sucked down by an illness, normally very healthy, but thankful his problem should be "easy enough" to recover from. I hope I'm not in trouble for writing about his gut today! I'll write about mine another time! :-)Today Vanessa had a friend from church come over to spend the day (thanks Jennifer!). She likes her lazy summer days, but since she's with us half time in the summer it's great that she has the fellowship of friends in the church to spend some summer days with. Having friends in the gospel in far and distant lands or just across town is such an asset we have with this church that I'm so grateful for. It's been a bit of a struggle to get the schedule worked out to spend time with Vanessa, but the perserverence has been worth it. She can have such a sweet spirit about her and the kids just love each other. The talks in church yesterday about Honoring Thy Father and Mother (youth speakers -- they both did a GREAT job, parents should be proud, too!) and building a celestial family were awesome and so true. When our kids are in tune with the spirit, the family not only runs better, but we feel the spirit very strongly and we learn a lot from the kids, too. It's a slice of heaven. I don't know how much the kids were listening to the talks, but maybe their spirits were because we really enjoyed them yesterday.
