What I love about my family

Everybody else has picked this for their Blog topic, so I think I will join the crowd. Interestingly, this could be an essay in and of itself, but I'll just hit the high points. Our family is really like a big pot of soup, each member stands alone in flavor, but when you put us together, the flavors blend and become something even better.

Things I love doing with our family are

• Reading- This is our family "thing". We all are bookworms and have a hard time getting other things done because we become so absorbed in our books! This summer we have been reading a chapter of a book every night as a family. It has been fun. We all like books on CD and look forward to hearing several on our big vacation.


• Playing games- We like card games like Phase 10 and Skipbo, board games like Parcheesi and Scene It, and computer games like Lego Indiana Jones.


• Swimming- Going swimming removes us from our normal distractions and the things that usually scream at us. So swimming provides me with a great opportunity to play games like our favorite ball game or Marco Polo and just play without some of the inhibitions that I feel in other arenas.


• FHE- Okay, I don't always love it, but I usually do. Sometimes it takes a long time to get past family business and counting how long until everyone's birthday is, but sometimes it is a good chance to laugh together and feel the Spirit. Sometimes I am so frustrated by the end that we forgo the treat and game, but usually it is a fun gathering time.


• Summer- I love having my kids to myself. The social and academic pressures of school are absent and we can grow without some of the constricting forces that we feel during the school year.

I read a book recently about the disintegration of family time and how hard it is to find time together as a family and I really feel grateful that we do have so much time together. I try to treasure it because I know that it is fleeting. We often run out of things to talk about because we have so few experiences apart. I think that this is unusual and I hope that I appreciate it enough. I love my family and I hope that I give my best to them.