Abe typing here. I admit, I woke up this morning feeling down. I think it’s a combination of a lot of things which include allergies, struggles and stress at work, dealing with the lingering emotional effects of winter and so on.
I prayed this morning seeking inspiration on how to still have a happy day even though I was feeling blue, and I had the thought to just keep moving all day and to try to “find joy in activity.” I made that my mantra for the day.
Lily went to the temple in the morning (and she had an amazing experience there) and so I got to take care of the kids while she was there. I fed them, dressed them, read to them, and built them a fort out of boxes in the yard (which they loved and played with for nearly two hours). I should also mention about the fort that it was dark inside because it was almost fully enclosed and when Lily brought Mary a flashlight, Mary said brightly, “I don’t need a flashlight, I have eyesight.” I got a good laugh. The cuteness reminded me of the time when Mary prayed, “Dear Father in Heaven, Thank you for daddy to not be so tired, thank you for mommy’s back to feel better, thank you for Lydia to not be mean to me. Thank you for me to not be cross-eyed. Amen.” When Lily got home, I fed the girls lunch, mowed the lawn and ran a bit. I gave Lily a good scare when Mary fell backwards on her chair while eating a peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwich. Mary cried a bunch and when she calmed down, I went to tell Lily what happened. I went upstairs and told Lily that Mary fell back and bumped her head and Lily looked at me horrified as she looked at the red jam on my shirt thinking it was blood that had gushed out of Mary’s head. Once I explained it was jam, she was less worried.
By the time I finished mowing the lawn, all the activity had given me some momentum and I was starting to feel rather good. Lily and I then ran some errands and ended up at the park with Lydia and Mary. Here is a picture of them playing.
At home we had dinner and Lily and I stayed up just having buddy talk for a couple hours which was really nice because my earlier gloom had initiated some tension between us. It was nice to end on such a wonderful note with my sweetheart.
