The Love Bug and the Jalapeno Horror!

This last week was full of adventure for us. It all began last Sunday when we realized that our little children are not so little anymore. Allison has had a crush on the same sweet little boy since she was a Sunbeam. And it just so happens that the same sweet boy has reciprocated the feelings. Well, Allison was searching diligently through her picture albums looking for the perfect picture because a "friend at church" had asked for one. And for whom might this picture be? I'll leave that to you to speculate.

The love bug didn't stop with his mischief there. For the longest time Braden had been very concerned about going on a mission, and it finally came to a had when he declared that he would not be going on a mission because he didn't want to marry a girl. (He naturally assumed that the two were intrinsically related.) Once we convinced our young son that he didn't need to worry about getting married, he was a lot more receptive to the idea of going on a mission. About a year ago, Braden decided that it would be okay if he married Caitlin who is our 16 year old babysitter--as long as she promised to feed him. We decided that this was a marvelous idea and the betrothal has been ongoing since then--until last Sunday. While we were sitting around the dinner table, Braden declared that he couldn't marry Caitlin because he was in love with a girl. Our little Braden has a crush on the 4 year old sister of the boy Allison has a crush!

I had naturally assumed that Braden's crush would be short lived. However, after Sacrament today I was tucking in Braden's shirt (a futile effort) and his little sweetie walked by, and Braden saw her and said, "Mom! Let me go! Let me go!" Pretending innocence and continuing to tuck I responded with "Why?" His anxious response was " Because there she is, and I want to be with her!" Our little ones are growing right up!

Onto the lesson that I learned this week. Brent was very kind and unselfish this week and helped me with a vinyl order that I had to complete. I was unable to cut the wood that they needed and Brent kindly offered to take care of it for me. So, in return I wanted to do something for my husband. The day before Brent had harvested all kinds of things from our garden including all of the jalapeno peppers. I knew that Brent wanted to dry them, but just hadn't had time and wouldn't for the next couple of days. I decided to take care of the task for him. Let me just preface this with I have never cooked or done anything with jalapenos before. I sliced them up in our food processor and because there were so many seeds, I decided to rinse them off before I placed them in the dehydrator. It took me about 30 minutes to place the rinsed peppers on the dehydrator. Not 10 minutes after I had finished my hands were ON FIRE!!!!! I have never in my entire life felt such searing pain. I was having panic attacks it was so miserable and nothing I did could relieve the intense suffering. It was so bad that I was wishing for childbirth in its place! Thankfully Brent was working from home that morning and spent an hour researching different pain relief methods. We tried everything under the sun. Finally he went tot he store and found some 91% rubbing alcohol. That helped more than anything else, but I still had problems with my hands off and on throughout the day. It was a great learning experience, and it turned out to be a great object lesson for my Sunday School Lesson about adversity.

And last but not least, I was reminded of the power of prayer. Not only did offer probably the most heartfelt and sincere prayer that I have ever uttered during the trial of the jalapenos, but today during Sunday School the Brother offering the opening prayer asked for physical and spiritual strength on the instructor (who was of course me) to make it through the lesson. I have a very hard time lasting through the entire lesson, and at the beginning of the lesson I could already tell that I was going to have to be very careful or I was going to pass out. As soon as the words were spoken I could feel my back instantly feel better. That is where most of my problems stem. It was the easiest time I have ever had during a lesson. It was amazing. Between this and the kind service of another brother in the ward who brings a fan for me every week, I feel very blessed. These small acts of service have been very touching and a saving element for me in my very pregnant state!