General Conference - A FEAST for the soul

Hunter playing Conference Bingo - more like, just cover all the squares and eat the M&M's

Olivia with her conference activities

Ammon pretending to play BINGO so he can eat his M&M's. Don't worry the freaky look is on purpose!

Where's Caleb? Still sleeping! It's a teen thing.

Many years ago, when I was still a fairly new newly-wed, I remember one of my sister-in-laws talking about a beloved institute teacher that shared with her his love for conference. He said something to the effect that, "you know when you're getting old/mature, when you look forward to conference as much as you used to look forward to Christmas as a child."

I remember thinking . . . I like conference, but I don't think I'll ever like it THAT much! (I REALLY looked forward to Christmas!) Well, I must be getting old, because the last few years have been just like anticipating Christmas as a child for me. I definitely look more forward to it than Christmas now. I love hearing the inspired messages from the apostles of the Lord. I really miss some of my favorites that have passed away recently - President Hinckley, Elder James E. Faust, Elder Neal A. Maxwell (okay this ones been a little longer, but he's always been a favorite!) and Elder David B. Haight.  They have each left some treasures in my life.

Marc and I like to take notes and talk about our favorites later. WOW! The last few years, it's been hard to choose a favorite. I really appreciated Elder Bednar's down-to-earth council to just keep being consistent with family routines of PRAYER, SCRIPTURES and FAMILY HOME EVENING. His memories/accounts of his FHE's when his children were young sounded a lot like ours do most of the time. I can't imagine him having the VOLUME problems we have sometimes though . . .  I need to be reminded of the importance of the work I'm doing in the home on a regular basis, so I can keep it in perspective and not get in a rut!

Since I can't decide on a FAVORITE . . . here are some random thoughts/loves:

LOVED President Monson sharing all the service letters and things that were sent to him on his birthday! Especially the jar of "warm fuzzies!" He is such an ADORABLE prophet and EXCELLENT example of service, Christ-like love and humor! What a role model.

LOVED Elder Boyd K. Packer's stories! Marc and I were cracking up (Bossy cow and sparrow trap) and inspired (soldier train car)! He has always been one of my favorites! He offered some great insites into hope, the Light of Christ, prayer and inspiration!

R. Osguthorpe: new to me, but I loved his messages about TEACHING! As a mother and teacher, I can never get enough advice to improve TEACHING! Teaching really is the noblest and greatest of callings! Not always easy, but spiritually rewarding. My favorite advice or "one liner": Our teaching aim is not to provide information but INSPIRATION! (paraphrased)

I'm looking forward to reading Elder Scott's talk. The topic and material was AWESOME! He always comes across as a little too gentle for me. Marc ADORES him. I do too, just not as much of a favorite as some of the above.

I enjoyed Ann Dibb's talk and analogy of "safety equipment." Now that I am serving in Young Women's again, I appreciate her insites. Bless our youth! They are so in need of this message now and faced with so many challenges!

WOW! Was Elder Holland's message powerful and direct or what! LOVED his POWERFUL testimony of the Book of Mormon and it's origin. Nobody better mess with him! Elder Holland has been a favorite since I was a teen! He speaks to me! There was a lot of info here - I'll have to read this one a few times to fully digest. . .

I enjoyed the HEART analogies from Dale Renlund and Michael Ringwood. Clever!

and finally . . . Elder D. Todd Christopherson - way to go with only your 2nd conference! More guidance for parenting, service, moral character/self discipline. I wish our political leaders could have heard this one! He SO hit the nail on the head with where we are headed and what we TRULY need as a society. Alas, only time will tell. Another one I can't wait to read!

Okay, the pics above . . . we have another conference tradition in which we have BINGO games and coloring activities for the kids to try to help keep their attention. Well, this year I just pulled out the left overs from last year. My personal favorite activity is the "GENERAL AUTHORITIES TIES." A friend introduced them to me a few years ago . . . I can't remember the source now, and unfortunately I couldn't find them to print off updated ones for this year, but they are SO helpful. There is a blackline drawing of a tie for each of the 12 apostles and first presidency. As they are speaking, the children color in the tie on their page to match the speaker's tie. ADORABLE! It engages the kids better than anything else I've seen. My kids also like the BINGO - especially when I have prizes. Although, I didn't do that this year because I spent so much time handing out prizes for everytime "BINGO!" was shouted out. It was a little too distracting for me. This year, we just bought M&M's for the BINGO boards and BlowPop suckers. About 1 hour into conference our kids were BOUNCING off the walls. By the end Marc and I were about to go NUTS! So, I don't recommend a lot of SUGAR for conference. You'd think we'd learn by now. We try . . . always try . . .

What were YOUR favs? What ideas do you have for making it meaningful for YOUR children?

Conference Breakfast Cake

This recipe is a tradition in my husband's family. Actually, this is a similar version to my mother-in-laws. I like this version a little better with the sour cream. We got this recipe from a patient in Marc's chiropractic office. It's really called "Christmas Coffee Cake." But, since we don't drink coffee, or make it at Christmas, I've renamed it "Conference Cake." What traditions do you like to carry on in YOUR family?

CONFERENCE CAKE:
1 egg
3/4 c. sugar
1 T. butter, melted
1 c. sour cream
1 t. vanilla
1 1/2 c. flour
2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. baking soda
3/4 t. salt
Brown sugar topping - below (& nuts, optional)

Beat egg till frothy; beat in sugar and butter. Cream till light and fluffy. Add sour cream and vanilla, blend well. Mix dry ingredients together: add to sour cream mixture. Blend well - Pour into a greased 9" square or round pan. Sprinkle top with brown sugar topping:
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 T. butter, soft or melted
1/2 t. cinnamon
2 T. flour
Mix till crumbly

Bake at 375 degrees for 20-30 min or till cake test is done. This serves 6. Double for a 9x13 pan or 2 9" pans. ENJOY!

A Little Conference Appetizer

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Written by: Robert Robinson; Composed by John Wyeth

Prior to General Conference this morning, I was delighted to be treated to one of my favorite hymns. I'm bummed that it is not in our current hymn book, but I'm glad the Mormon Tabernacle choir as well as the barber quartet, Reprise, have included it in their albums. I was reintroduced to this hymn several years ago, and it stirs my soul every time I hear it. I'm intrigued by the line . . . "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love; Here's my heart, O take and seal it; Seal it for thy courts above."

Why are we prone to wander? The pulls of the world are definitely enticing and becoming more and more so. Why does He still love us so much and plead continually for us to Come Unto Him, even though we do wander? What amazing love!

Make Some Noise!!!

What kid doesn't want to make some noise with pots and pans every now and then? Marc ordered me a new set of pots a couple weeks ago, because he has been complaining for months about the unsafe cancer-causing tephlon pans I use. They arrived. Hunter couldn't wait to unpack the boxes, and was delighted to find a drum set! I was thinking - "Oh, my brand new $2,000 pots (please note: we bartered almost all of this price) are going to get dented and dinged," but then I remembered they are just pots and pans. Some day I am gonna miss this and wish I had someone to help me unpack my boxes, and I'll wish there was a little more noise in the house. Make music, Hunter! Lots of noisy music!

Best 5 Cents I Ever Spent

After washing my 4-year-old's sheets every day for several weeks, I knew I had to think of a strategy to help him stop this habit of wetting the bed. I was certain if I could just get him to use the bathroom right before going to bed, I'd be doing less laundry. I knew he was only wetting the bed out of laziness or a similar flaw - it wasn't a medical condition. He had gone many months of waking up to dry sheets, and then for some unknown reason, had started up wetting the bed. I'd tried pull-ups. He would wet in those, and it was aggravating me becasue I knew he didn't need them. So I confronted him on the issue. "Hunter, why do you pee in the pull ups?" His response, "Because if you put pull ups on me then I will pee in them." To him pull ups are for peeing in. So I did away with the pull ups and it seemed to help. He was definitely having way fewer "accidents."

Well, then we went on a family vacation for almost 2 weeks. We would be staying in guests' beds, and I would be so embarrassed if he wet in someone elses bed. So I took along enough pull-ups to last the trip. Well, it served my purpose well of avoiding any accidents in family members' bedding, but he got back into the habit of his old ways, and I began washing sheets - EVERY DAY when we returned home!

So a little over a month ago, before putting him to bed I asked him to go pee first so he wouldn't wet the bed. Pride or stubbornness prevented him from gladly accepting my request, so in a split second I got the idea to BRIBE him. "If you go pee in the potty before you go to bed, I will give you a NICKEL. And if you wake up with dry sheets, I'll give you another NICKEL." He is always asking for money to purchase ice cream from the ice cream man. I never give him money for this, but our neighbors feel sorry for him and often do.

Anyway, it was worth a nickel to him, so I made him a little box with a slit on the top to collect his nickels. I didn't have to wash sheets for 3 WEEKS strait!!! I gave him nickels morning and night - WAY cheaper than pull-ups. That's the BEST 5 CENTS I've ever spent! What's your best financial investment so far?