Grateful

I'm feeling very grateful for our health insurance today. And especially grateful that it's much better than last year, with a much lower deductible. I just tallied it all up so far.
Bubba's collar bone total-$2123.34
JP's arthritis (so far)-$2776.94-that doesn't include his cortisone shot yet.
I just paid the rest of JP's stuff and had a couple that were in the $30 range. It's pretty lame that in addition to hospital fees, you have to pay for the doctor and also the radiologist separately. The hospital gave us a 10% discount so we ended up paying $284 out of a total of $1500! Phew! I'd say that's pretty good.
Unfortunately JP's knee is now gigantic. His ankle looks totally normal, but last night at bedtime B noticed how puffy and swollen his knee is. I think it looks bigger than before, or at least the same size. It worries me. I don't want him to have to get another shot and I'm sure he doesn't want it either. Poor little guy. I'm so grateful, though, that it wasn't anything worse. I have a friend whose little boy has rheumatoid and she has to give him shots every other day. She said when they finally got a diagnosis (after several months of trying to figure out what was wrong with him) she was thrilled that it wasn't something like cancer. I felt the same way. It really could be so much worse and if this is all he has to deal with, even if it's long term, I feel okay about it. I feel totally calm about the whole thing.

I'm so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who looks out for us when we need it most. I'm grateful that I have been blessed with the gospel my entire life. I'm grateful for my awesome husband who helped me have a desire to find my own testimony when we were dating. I'm grateful for an eternal family. I'm grateful for the scriptures that teach me the commandments and of Christ's love and example. I want to be more like Him when I grow up. I'm grateful for pioneer ancestors who first believed in the prophet Joseph even before Nauvoo days, and for their sacrifices in coming across the plains. I'm grateful for the boy Joseph who had the desire to know the truth. I'm grateful for the priesthood in my home and a wonderful husband who has set an example by serving a faithful mission. I'm also grateful for the added example of my 2 younger brothers who have served/is serving now. Everyday my Heavenly Father blesses me in some way and most of the time I don't even pay attention or notice. I am trying to pay more attention to these small miracles. I pray that you can know of the truth of these things for yourselves too, and notice those daily miracles.

Tonight JP doesn't have a game so we will all be able to go. I hope it's better than the other night. Our umpire will be behind the plate tonight and he knows what he's doing so the kids shouldn't be confused as to when to swing and when not to. As long as they have fun and improve their skills, that's all that matters. I had a discussion with Bubba at bedtime the other night about this. He's so hard on himself, especially since he's been having trouble seeing the ball leave the pitcher's hand. At least we've figured out how to open up his stance so this should help him. He hit every pitch last year so I know it's really frustrating for him. I keep telling him just to have fun, and also to pray for help to improve. I want him to know that he can pray for anything at all-even if it's something small like that. I just want to see his confidence come back. Don't you wish you could keep your kids in a bubble so they would never be called names, made fun of, hear bad language, or have low self-esteem. Do you think low self-esteem can be somewhat hereditary? We do everything we can to let them know how great and special they are, but most of the time they don't feel that way. I felt that way my entire life, but I never had positive reinforcement so I figured that was the cause of it. Any thoughts?