The General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is held 2 times a year. On those weekends, weekly meetings are canceled so that members of the church can listen to counsel from our leaders via the internet, BYU television, or satellite broadcast at the chapel. We usually have Leslie, Gerson, and their girls come over on Sunday and hang our in our pajamas to watch it on BYU tv. Saturday's sessions are hit and miss because of soccer games and other Saturday related chores, but we make it a point to watch all day on Sunday.
This year, our Saturday was no different. I had grocery shopping to do, Ron had work commitments, and Maggie had soccer games. In addition, Scott was on duty and it is Temple Fire and Rescue's Fill the Boot weekend. So, after 3 trips by his corner, we were finally able to stuff some cash into Scott's boot.
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| Fireman Scott... |
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| Filling the boot and getting free stickers! |
We sat on the edge of the soccer field, in chilly winds, under beautifully stormy skies to watch Maggie's team win a soccer game.
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| Beautiful, stormy clouds over the soccer field... |
Later that day, Leslie and I took the girls for a "girls night out" while Gerson and Ron watched the Priesthood session. We went to Jason's Deli, just for the free ice cream. Unfortunately, the girls have reached the stage of making silly faces instead of smiling sweetly for pictures.
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| Silly faces #1 |
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| Silly faces #2... |
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| Silly faces #3... |
This morning, we started out the day with a delicious breakfast of biscuits, gravy, eggs, pancakes, sausage, bacon, fresh strawberries, and fresh pineapple. With full tummies, the adults snuggled up under blankets to watch the morning session. The girls entertained themselves with conference clip board activities that included hidden pictures search, fill in the blank, coloring sheets, and word scrambles.
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| Maggie Lyn... |
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| Boomer, Sophie Lyn, and Poppy... |
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| Sophie Lyn... |
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| Leslie, Maggie Lyn, and Gerson... |
Between sessions, we ate delicious chili and fresh chocolate chip cookies. We played Disney's Headbands, built forts and castles with Duplo blocks, snuggled with Boomer, and made conference crowns.
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| Boomer, he adores me. |
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| Maggie Lyn, Boomer, and Mimi. |
During the afternoon session, the girls used their Temple sewing cards, conference Bingo, and Temple puzzles to stay entertained. And of course, we practice singing opera with the Mormon Tabernacle choir. I don't think any of us will EVER be asked to join the choir!
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| Sophie Lyn... |
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| Sophie Lyn... |
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| Maggie Lyn... |
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| Maggie and Sophie |
After Leslie's family went home, Ron and I cleaned up the house, I called and chatted with Mom, and sat down to update the blog. Through it all, I thought about how easy it is to bring the joy and spirit of conference into our home, and how thankful I am to have this great blessing. Lessons I feel were most important for me from this session include: understanding that heeding the Spirit's promptings can lead to lasting spiritual memories for not only yourself, but others; and most importantly, being thankful and finding joy especially during times of difficulty.
