Two Things That Touched Me

This past week my brothers, Adam & Logan, came down for a visit. It was so nice to have a few days just to hang out with them. We did a few fun things, like going to the lake and the beach, watching some TV, eating some good food, and just being together. But the following two experiences will always be the highlights for me.

Saturday night, Adam had gone out with Cory to pick up a few things, including some Mountain Dew (and not the caffeine free kind.) His reasoning was that he would need it to help him stay awake on the ride back home on Sunday. It was setting out, and of course the kids saw it and wanted some. (Canned drinks are always cooler than any other kind.) We had to explain that it had caffeine in it and that we don't drink caffeine. Elise, having more experience with this kind of thing, accepted it and was done. Ian, however, wasn't as easily convinced, and he didn't understand why his uncles could drink it and he couldn't. After some discussion, Adam came over and talked to Ian and said, "Ian, it's really not good and I shouldn't be drinking it either. You know what we need to do with this? Throw it away!" So Ian & Adam threw away the cans of Mountain Dew. I was so grateful for Adam stepping in and teaching this lesson in a way that was more meaningful than what I could have done. I was even more touched when Adam said, "Mountain Dew--$2.25. Teaching your nephew about the Word of Wisdom--Priceless." Amen.

Not long after that, I was making a strawberry sonker for us to eat. After getting all the ingredients in the pan, I overestimated my own strength when putting the heavy, glass, 9"x13" pan in the oven. As I tried to slide it in, my arm sagged, sending splashes of strawberries and sonker batter all over the oven, the floor and everywhere in between. It dripped out of the oven into the under the oven drawer, it seeped underneath the oven...it was a huge mess. After we had a sort-of-laugh, Logan walked right over without even being asked and got paper towels to start cleaning up. Logan, for all his sleeping in until noon, playing 'insane aquarium', and all the other typical teenage stuff, picked up on my moment of desperation and pitched right in to help. I'm sure he doesn't know how much that meant to me.

So even though we made a lot of memories this week, these two incidents will be what I think of when I remember their visit. I sure have great brothers!