That day.

I woke up on Thursday at 4:30 am.

I had hardly slept the night before.

{ sometimes I think way too much}

Jake was heading up to the pioneer trek and I , Being the best wife in the entire world, got out of bed to help him pack his gear.

{since he had refused to do it the night before}

I climbed into our attic twice before 5:00 am.

{all in the name of seeking out appropriate trek apparel}

I kissed his handsome, yet bearded, face goodbye by 5:30 and hopped back into my snuggly bed, hoping to catch a few winks before my wee babes woke up for the day.

My brain was too busy to sleep, but finally nodded off just minutes before my first morning greeting.

We had planned a morning hike with Stephanie and her boys.

I was excited to take my kids on this adventure without Jake.

{I am woman hear me roar?}

We sat down to breakfast about 6:30ish.

Most of my kids chowed down cold cereal as I read scriptures.

Crew chose to eat/ hold in his mouth, leftovers from last nights dinner.

It was shrimp.

After less than half a shrimp in his mouth, he refused to swallow it.

He just held it in his boca.

{and no amount of convincing would get him to chew... or swallow}

I decided to completely ignore this and allow him to have natural consequences.

{ie... rotting,nasty food in your mouth, not being able to talk, not wanting to eat anything in fear of accidentally swallowing the food, etc}

We all got dressed and ready and head out to our hike.

We chatted and sang along with the radio as we drove.

It was an incredible morning.

Beautiful drive.

Stephanie and her boys came and I got to see their darlingness... and hear awesome news from my friend too.

I was amazed by how well all 7 kids were doing.

{ash and hal were the best helpers ever}

We found a gorgeous shady spot on the creek and let the kids run free and nearly naked for over an hour.

{all while crews shrimp was fermenting in his mouth}

We hiked back to the cars and the 90 plus degrees let us know we were done.

I said goodbye to Steph and her little ones.

I drove home smiling.

Perfect morning.

{fast forward 4 hours}

About this time, I started worrying that Crew had not eaten a single bite of food all day long.

{I surely thought he would've swallowed his breakfast by now!!}

{It had been more than 10 hours}

We were heading to football practice and I was worrying about sending him into the heat to workout without any nourishment.

I begged him to swallow.

{he still refused}

I can't want it more than he does.

{hardest lesson for me to grasp}

We packed the scooters into the back of the burb to bring for the girlies to ride.

At football practice, I was nervous he would choke on his food and finally let him spit it into the garbage can.

{I cant imagine the taste that was in his mouth}

He hardly practiced at all.

{i think he was really hungry, although he would't admit it}

I watched ash, hal, and macy ride their scooters down the grassy park hills.

I warned them to slow down... because nobody wants stitches.

The sun was brutal at first, so they took a much needed break in the shade.

Practice continued as the sun started to sink down.

Ashlinn took her scooter for one last "hoorah" down a hill.

She crashed.

I saw her crying and lurching toward me holding her arm.

I knew it was broken.

The way she was holding it was obvious.

I gathered my filthy, hungry brood and drove home.

I called Jake.

{luckily his cell gets reception, even during pioneer times}

He talked to Ashlinn and made her laugh.

{thats my man}

After showers, uncrustables for dinner, and dropping off a few rugrats at the neighbors, we were off to urgent care.

They confirmed my suspicions.

It was broken.

Never was any child more thrilled to hear the news.

They outfitted her with a hard brace and an arm sling.

She was over the moon.

I took her picture and text it to Jake.

I got a text back, "I think I need to come home."

I called my rugged pioneer man right away and assured him that we were going to be okay.

Although I would love having him with us, he was exactly where he needed to be.

We were being taken care of here.

After all of my angels are tucked soundly into their beds, I cleaned up the house and I got the chance to reflect on the day.

Why wasn't I feeling stressed?

Why did I still feel overwhelmingly grateful and optimistic?

Why did these things that may have typically been much harder to handle seem so easy today?

It came to me while putting away the 9th pair of shoes I found around the house.

Jake was serving where he was asked to serve.

I was doing what I have been called to do.

And... just like countless sacrament meetings over the past 5 years, the Lord had stepped in and made up what I lacked.

He always does.

This day was a testimony of Heavenly help.

Sometimes the Lord calms the storm, Sometimes He calms the Sailor.

Today it was the sailor.