Changing it up

Posted on the old blog today. Check it out.

Conference Fun

Being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I always look forward to General Conference so much. I love hearing from our living prophet and being strengthened by the words of so many others.

It's really different watching and listening with kids, though. It takes a lot more concentration to be able to get something out of the sessions. And sometimes, you just won't hear everything.

But we tried to make it fun this time and do activities with the kids to keep them busy so we could keep our listening ears on while tending to them. You just can't make little kids "watch" conference.

During the Saturday morning and afternoon sessions, we stayed busy by coloring and water-coloring. We also made some paper spiders to hang from the ceiling for Halloween {I know, not exactly the most appropriate for a spiritual event...}. But hey, the kids loved them.

Today, I made peanut butter play dough, and that kept Dick and Jane busy for quite a while.

Dick thought it was pretty tasty, too, once he realized it wasn't regular play-doh. {He's tried it - not a fan.}

I printed out some coloring pages for Jane to color during the afternoon session. She wanted me to color most of the picture but then she decided to color his teeth and the right-half of his suit.

{Hand tracing never gets old.}

For some reason, I feel more edified following this conference than possibly ever before. So much rang true in my ears, and we were given a lot of hope and answers to prayers.


My favorite talk was Elder Anderson's talk on bearing children and having a family. The spirit testified so strongly to me that what we are doing right now in having our 3rd baby is the right thing to do. {It gives me hope when I feel a little crazy thinking about having three kids under 4...}


I also loved Elder Hales' talk about trials and having hope. As hard as life has been the past year for various personal and family reasons, it is comforting to know that the Lord has a plan for my family and that he is watching over us. And that if we turn to Him, he will always answer our prayers, in His time. Sometimes it's the waiting and the testing that is the hardest, but through our faith and trust in Him, He can make those hard days a little easier and our backs a little stronger. And if we choose to, we can still love life. I know I do.

Sleeping with Pumpkins

When we checked on Jane Friday night, she was sound asleep with the kids' new trick-or-treat pumpkins close by her side. 


Someone's excited for Halloween.