Personal thoughts

So because of the time difference, we observed General Conference today so we have now watched all but the Priesthood session and since there was no adult here to experience it with me, I have some comments to make about things.
1. What is the protocol in having children watch conference? I believe that they need to learn that it is an event that is important to me and Jeremy and that we show respect and watch it quietly. They can do quiet activities like we do at church but it really is a time to feel the Spirit of God as our Prophet and his counselors speak to us. With all these expectations, here is what actually happened in my house today...
Me: "BE QUIET! We are listening to conference!"
(internally) Oh crap, now I missed what they just said and everyone is laughing and I missed it. I should send you to your room, but then you will not understand that we sit and listen respectfully to this.
Me: "Stop hitting your brother. Oh now you are both crying. I CAN'T HEAR! You knock that off or we are all taking naps after this." (A fight ensues and then I miss half the talk.) Do I rewind it to what I missed? We still have 3 hours left of this. I guess we keep going.
Then both kids disappear to their rooms. Do I enjoy that or call them back because "We respect conference"? Well, I am dumb. I call them back. Katy says, "Why?"
(internally) Are you serious, why do you think, punk?
You get the point. It was awesomeness. We did take naps, just so you all know that mom lays down the law here.
2. I really appreciate and respect President Eyring's talk. Here is the story I am going to talk about:

One of my daughters-in-law spent many years feeling that God had placed a pavilion over her. She was a young mother of three who longed for more children. After two miscarriages, her prayers of pleading grew anguished. As more barren years passed, she felt tempted to anger. When her youngest went off to school, the emptiness of her house seemed to mock her focus on motherhood—so did the unplanned and even unwanted pregnancies of acquaintances. She felt as committed and consecrated as Mary, who declared, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord.”⁶ But although she spoke these words in her heart, she could hear nothing in reply.

Hoping to lift her spirits, her husband invited her to join him on a business trip to California. While he attended meetings, she walked along the beautiful, empty beach. Her heart ready to burst, she prayed aloud. For the first time, she asked not for another child but for a divine errand. “Heavenly Father,” she cried, “I will give you all of my time; please show me how to fill it.” She expressed her willingness to take her family wherever they might be required to go. That prayer produced an unexpected feeling of peace. It did not satisfy her mind’s craving for certainty, but for the first time in years, it calmed her heart.

The prayer removed the pavilion and opened the windows of heaven. Within two weeks she learned that she was expecting a child. The new baby was just one year old when a mission call came to my son and my daughter-in-law. Having promised to go and do anything, anywhere, she put fear aside and took her children overseas. In the mission field she had another child—on a missionary transfer day.

We hear these stories a lot and they kind of bug me. Where are the stories about the righteous wife and good mother who was barren and stayed barren? The one who begged and pleaded and finally submitted to God's will for her and decided to be happy and move on even though she had no child in her arms to comfort the unfulfilled righteous desire? I know that everyone wants to hear a happy ending but there is happiness even when you can't have the 5 children you expected to obtain easily before you turned 30. (I mean, you got married at 18, right?) There are just no stories in the Ensign or in conference that talk about the mother of 2 who was so grateful that she was finally able to have 2 but really wanted more. She told the Lord that she would "Go where you want me to go and do what you want me to do." She moved to California and then to Guam and still did not have the children that amazingly came to the lady in the story above.

What about those women who can't even have 2 but have chosen to surround themselves with other people who can have kids? The ones who never married but attended weddings and baby showers always reflecting on their unfulfilled righteous desires? There are millions of amazing people out there, you know. They just don't get their stories mentioned because they put their shoulder to the wheel and hope that their husband, child, or losses will someday be "made up to them." I love that miracles happen to people, especially when you submit your will to God's will for you and I am certain that this was the point President Eyring was trying to make but it still hurt a little.

3. Loved the "Joy of Redeeming the Dead" talk. I added some items to my to-do list from that one.

4. Six months always seems so long. The sad thing is that Jeremy won't quite be back yet for the next conference. I guess that means that we will have a round2 of the first conversations that I discussed.
5. I was made the Relief Society Additional Meeting Coordinator. First item of business: Super Saturday. How do you plan an Americanized Super Saturday when half your ward is local people? "Here is your homemade craft we made. I know you don't have running water in your home but this cute craft will really spruce things up. No, I am sorry it does not come with a cement nailer for you to hang it on your sheet metal wall." It just seems silly. I guess I will figure it out.

 

Ok, moving on. Cody started basketball this week. It was so cute.

                                              Here is Cody in line for basketball shooting.

                                                                      Action shot.
He was really timid at first and didn't want to play but we borrowed someone's ball and showed him how to dribble. (Yes, I know how to dribble.) After that he wanted to take some shots and we were good to go.
                       Friday was a crazy day. I won't even go into it but it involved Tarague, a homemade bouquet of flowers, homemade doughnuts, a bonk to the head, a thunderstorm, a trip to the ER for a friend's kid, 4 hours in the car, and Wendy's for dinner.
                         Saturday we went to see Hotel Transylvania at the movies. It was very cute.

So after conference, (taking naps helped them realize I was serious about conference and they sat fairly well through the last session) I said we could make sugar cookies. Yes, she intentionally posed like that while I took this picture. Jer, we need to move to a state that allows us to have shot guns. Then we walked to a friend's house to deliver the cookies, realized that it was getting late and took home her leftovers to eat for our dinner.  We read stories with Dad over skype and went to bed.

Whew! Crazy weekend.