On Monday into Tuesday, night into morning, we had a terrible storm. It was so intense that Mikaela spent the night on our floor and the rest of the household stayed awake while the storm was raging outside. We are surrounded by a lot of tall trees, which creak and moan loudly when the wind is pushing against them. Often we watch them bend almost to the ground with the force from the wind. The moaning and hammering of the rain made for one tired family. Today, the world is sunny, the air is clean and fresh. I wish that there was a cleansing for the brain like rain, or a shower. Maybe that is what prayer is--a cleansing, to help with cleaning the brain like a rainstorm or a shower.

We received Braden's first letter and the same afternoon an email (actually two, emails, but they were kind of connected). You can read his letters here: http://www.missionsite.net/elderbradenbolton/main . He was so ready to be on a mission, as you can tell from his letters.

This year is going to be an interesting year in our home. I feel like I need to recite Maurice Sendak  and say, "Let the wild rumpus begin!"