Before the Rooster Crows

This morning my little brother and I were the only ones awake for quite a while. Everyone else was sleeping in, but I couldn't sleep any longer.  My little brother and I decided that we would go spend some time together outside in the early morning air.  But, it took a bit longer to get outside than we were originally thinking it would. Because of 2 different things my finger started bleeding and his toe started bleeding.  I was just going to ignore it for the most part, but before long he had the first aid kit out and was taking care of my finger, and I was taking care of his toe.  It is a sweet experience when a small person is doing first aid. Very sweet.

So eventually we got outside. And it was raining.  Only lightly. (I. love. the. rain!) We set out a thick quilt on the grass and listened as the rain came pelting gently down onto the tree (= our "giant" umbrella) above our heads and the birds argued back and forth or sang out love songs.  We read scriptures, looked at artwork (boy did his face light up when he found the same picture of Christ visiting the Americas in his scriptures and in a little quiet book) and talked about a bunch of miscellaneous stuff.  All of a sudden, little bro got up and walked over to another tree, telling me that he was looking at a nest and he wanted me to come see, too.  I really didn't feel like getting up.  But I did because it was important to him, and pretty cool to see.  It was a rather deep nest and rather far up in the tree so I suggested we get a ladder which he ended up "carrying" one end and I carried the rest.  "Turn...right...or...this way...whichever way this is."  You know, to follow a little guy around can be super fun. At least I think so. I just hope I can have the energy to keep it up!  The ladder didn't help much, but it gave him a view he didn't have before, which was just as exciting to him.

 So, I'm glad that I was able to spend a lot of time with my brother this morning, even though he might not remember it in a few months or years, I will remember it and know that I was doing my best to be a good big sister and find joy in the little things as he did.