So Grateful

This past week I had a little medical scare. As it turns out, everything is perfectly fine, but between discovering the issue, doctor's visits, a biopsy and waiting for lab results to come through, it was a very long week and a half. Although the results were the most positive we could have received, the week of waiting was full of emotions, support and a whole lot of faith. It was a week I would never wish upon anyone, yet looking back on it I came away with so much gratitude and can honestly say that those little moments and tender mercies I had throughout the week made it all worth it. In short, I have had so much gratitude this week for a myriad of things:

• For a husband and dad who are worthy to give me a blessing at the drop of a hat
• For the love and support of family
• For the faith of my family, grandparents, friends and in-laws in regards to fasting
• That when I allowed myself to think about that dark and scary path as an option, I had the comfort of knowing that I was sealed to Bennett
• For the scriptures that somehow always have the exact line or phrase that I need to hear 
• For the peace and comfort that comes from knowing that God is aware of and loves me
• For a supportive husband that is the rock of our family and is there to hold my hand every step of the way

And on a lighter note, I was grateful that we were able to have a weekend that consisted of this:

Doing a little homework on Friday night (or trying to), where our biggest concerns were trying to solve story problems with the Pythagorean Theorem (him) and plan a p.e. lesson with activities that my 1st graders with an attention span of about nothing could carry out. 

Taking a break from homework to play an intense round of Jenga. Seriously, one of our favorite wedding gifts (thanks, Brit!)

On Saturday afternoon, I left Bennett to do more homework and headed over to my mom's house to make our favorite homemade salsa with her and my sister. It was the first time I had ever helped her make the salsa and after participating in the labor intensive process, I gained a huge appreciation for all those years I would come home from school with a fresh batch of salsa awaiting my return. The hours of working were completely worth it; store bought salsa just doesn't even compare to the homemade stuff- especially my mom's recipe.

First my mom and dad went to a farm in Layton and picked three huge boxes of tomatoes

Then we washed them all, steamed them and peeled the skin of off them 

We chopped up all the other ingredients and combined them all into a few giant pots

And stirred...

And stirred some more...

We put it in the jars

And finally we processed them 

68 jars of salsa and 6 hours later I was heading home with 18 of my very own jars. Let's just say Bennett was a happy husband when I walked in the door holding that much salsa. Should I be embarrassed to admit that we've already eaten an entire jar in less than 24 hours? Heck no.

Later Saturday night we went to stake conference and caught the last half of the BYU-Utah game. Was that not the most pitiful thing you've ever seen? Even Bennett and his family, die hard U fans, were heard saying, "Oh, please don't score another touchdown" when there were only minutes left in the game. But, when Bennett's Utah pride had him wearing a Utah shirt to bed, I stood by my Cougs and wore my BYU shirt for pajamas that night, despite the fact that we fell so far onto the humiliating and shameful side of the spectrum.  Maybe next year.