Conference Time!

We love General Conference.  If you've read my blog for awhile you'll know that our church has a conference twice each year.  We all gather in our homes or church buildings to watch a worldwide broadcast from our church leaders and prophet.  Conference starts with the General Women's Session the weekend before.  This meeting is for ladies ages 8 and up.  We met at a church building for a musical program (Shanna, Haley and I and some friends sang in one song) then afterwards did a tiny service project by making a card for a child at a local children's hospital.






We left a little early to come back to my house to watch the broadcast with my friend and her daughter.  We had a fun night visiting, viewing the broadcast, and eating brownies and homemade vanilla ice cream. 


Haley is doing fall soccer and played in her first game.  She is enjoying it!


A little gem Lee found out in the laundry room. We store tons of stuff in there...like some photos apparently and kids' school art work.


Our tiny apple tree bore some great fruit and now its leaves are falling.  Not much to rake around here! Though I wish we had more trees.


One more for seminary Clark received this cute hand-out.


Shanna and Haley participated in dress-like-a-cow day at school. 


Clark did his first debit card purchase!


Elden enjoyed his first raingutter regatta. I hope he had fun.  I think he was disappointed that he didn't win.




He did receive some belt loops though!


Nope, I wasn't done with conference...just filled it what we did during the week.  The big conference came and Lee and Cal headed to Utah to watch it in person.  We started the tradition of taking our kids when they turn 12 to the conference center. Our bishop in Missouri would take his kids and we've always loved the idea!  Clark also did this with Lee.  Cal was nervous about flying in an airplane as he hasn't flown since he was a kid.  Well, he loved it!


I told Cal to ask for a whole can of soda on the flight.  They will give you one!




The rental car for a few days.... I was trying to help Lee and printed off his rental car reservation.  After waiting in line for a half hour he found out the reservation I printed off was from 2015 and the wrong car company.  Ugh. SO SORRY LEE!


Once the car was picked up they headed to the Salt Lake temple to do baptisms. 


Next up, Hogle Zoo.






They also visited the This is The Place Monument where Brigham Young, the second prophet in this dispensation, stuck his cane in the ground and declared this is the place where the saints would settle after years of bitter persecution in the eastern and midwest United States.








At the visitors' center looking at a huge replica of the Salt Lake temple, with the reflection of the real Salt Lake temple.  Pretty cool!


A map of all the temples around the world.  They are dotting the earth!


Cal got to pick where they went out to eat tonight since this was his first priesthood session to attend.  They decided to eat out Friday because Saturday would be too crazy. Cal chose good ol' Golden Corral.




Friday night Lee and Cal stayed with Lee's good friend Adam. We have kept in touch with Adam and Sherrie more recently and it's been great.  Cal loved being at their house.  They watched the morning session of General Conference with them.  Who wouldn't love a basketball court in their backyard?!


Lee and Cal barely made it in to the Saturday afternoon session at the Conference Center. They had tickets but the lines were super long.  They arrived 40 minutes early but still it was crazy.  During the sessions Lee and Cal met up with our brother-in-law Matt, and their two boys Thomas and Paul.  Thomas recently turned 12 and Paul is at BYU.  They were at the same sessions as well. So fun!




Time for Priesthood Session!




They got right in this time!






After the Priesthood Session they drove to Ely and spent Sunday watching conference and hung out most of Monday with Lee's parents and some family. 


Desert beauty in Nevada.






I thought we had taken all of our stuff from Lee's dad's old office building.  But nope.  They found some of our stuff.  This was a plate that someone made for me when I was a little girl...my mom or Aunt Anna Lee? Or Grandma Ruth? Or Grandma Lena?  Love this plate!  Sunshine Bear.  Maybe this is why I love the color yellow.




On the way back to Salt Lake to fly home.  Lee had a fun evening visiting with my brother Roger.  They stayed the night at their house in Salt Lake before their Tuesday am flight.


Back at the farm, I mean, orchard, I decided to go to Indiana for conference.  I thought about how it's a great weekend to visit family and not miss any local church obligations!  I felt good about going on the trip by myself and the other 4 kids, so we did! We went the weekend with Steph and her family. It was so fun!  I pulled the kids out of school early Friday.  Saturday morning after a run and getting ready, we headed to an apple orchard.












I printed off pictures of all the potential speakers.  They are chose from the worldwide leadership of our church. The kids all took notes for every speaker. They found their picture, pasted it in and wrote some things down about their topic or what they liked.  Elden wrote a ton of notes!  




In between sessions we went to one of Steph's amazing local parks.




Clark was in heaven playing with Andy's electric guitars.


While Andy and Clark watched the Priesthood Session (and Elden was watching his own movie) we did a girls night.  First up a trip to the American Girl Doll store.  So fun!


Aren't these mini UNO cards just so CUTE?!


We had to stroll through Pottery Barn Kids.....


Once we were home I took Maggie to the gas station with me to fill up and Steph and the kids made the amazing dumplings. OH SO GOOD!






I need to make these for Lee.  They are amazing!!!  Thanks Steph!


Steph and I then watched the recent Counting On episode.  It was a fun day.  Thanks Steph!  The next morning we hung out, played games and took off around noon.  We have XM radio so were able to listen to conference via the BYU channel. And the kids still took notes and didn't fall asleep!

Enjoy my weirdness....I brought two 6 gallon gas cans with me and filled them up the night before at Steph's so we didn't have to stop and pay for gas.  Clark emptied one of them at a rest area and it got us home!


Thankfully we made it home safely!  Monday morning while I was out I saw that the tire pressure was low.  I was being lazy and didn't want to fill them up at home with our air compressor, so I took it to our local tire place where we buy our tires because they do a free check and add air.  Thankfully I took it there because the guy found a nail in the tire. That would explain why the PSI was 11!  Usually something like this would annoy me, but I was just so grateful that God answered my prayers for safe travels and no flat tires!  I don't mind traveling by myself but if I think about all the bad things that can happen I naturally get nervous.  I felt so grateful that my small prayer was heard.  Lee was still out of town, but I was able to take care of it by myself and they fixed the tire for me. God answers prayers!

I took Clark to seminary Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday that week.  Since it was a new month, that means a fresh, new budget and money to spend!  I got this wacky idea to go to Walmart at 6am.  It was wonderful!  Walmart is only about 8 minutes from seminary.  Worked out beautifully.  When I arrived home to start putting items away, I wiped out some of the freezer and then just did a random whole freezer cleaning. 


Clark has picked up playing the bassoon at school.  I think he is enjoying it! Reminds me of the Phone Call, Scott, karate class and all!


Lee and Cal made it home Tuesday night!  Yay!  And Lee had a go at the bassoon.


One morning coming home from seminary the sky was amazing!


Haley wearing glasses Clark received in seminary.  And our neighbor friend, Michael.


Lee retired his tie that Sheldon gave him from Italy.  In the picture it actually looks great, but it was starting the get rough looking.


The boys helped with a scout fundraiser selling apple dumplings.


And I had a coupon for any size drink or freeze at Speedway.  After morning jobs, the apple dumpling fund raiser and a bike ride, we stopped here and divvied up the freeze drink into smaller cups.


A frog.  Crazy, right?!  Haha.


Clark sporting his tie from Sheldon.  Though I don't think it's from Italy, but I LOVE this tie!


Elden was determined to mow the lawn.  He would not take no for an answer or that I said he had to wait till he was 10.  Clark agreed to let Elden mow his part of the yard and Lee showed Elden what to do.  Elden was quite the worker and very proud of his work.  It was super cute. 


We probably over pay, but he earned $5!  Ten percent to tithing, half to savings, forty percent he decides.


And......to wrap up and finished off our conference experience by gathering around for ice cream at DQ and each of us talked about two talks, or more, that we enjoyed and why.  It was the reward for taking notes for each speaker!  I enjoyed hearing what they liked from conference.  Elden read to us his awesome notes.  It was a fun night.  Especially after we settled Elden's eating of his brussel sprouts.  He and Haley are NOT fans.  I quite liked them roasted!


Happy Fall!

15 Years and Counting!

Wow, 15 years of marriage has come to a close!  Overall it's been a good 15 years.  We've had our ups and downs and trials and struggles for sure.  But it's great to be where we are at now and keep looking towards the future!  Even though 15 years is more of a milestone anniversary, with other goals we have going on we didn't plan anything big.  At all.  We did have one trip planned, then decided to try and go to Europe. We found round trip tickets to London for $250 each!!! But then I waited till the next day and the tickets were gone.  In the end we decided to go out to eat for our date.

Lee surprised me with flowers and chocolate!  I really wasn't expecting this, ha ha.  It was so fun!


Sometimes there is extra money in the kids' job money bag.  And sometimes I go through it to see how much and use some of it on groceries, ha ha.


Lee snapped this street view picture of where Clark goes to seminary.  Lee often goes running when he drops off Clark, or goes on a bike ride.


And our date!  We ate at Hank's BBQ, which is quite yummy!  I LOVE their pork nachos!!!




We went to the football game for a few minutes to see Clark perform at half-time. It was their best performance yet! Then hit up the grocery store for some ice cream. It was a fun evening and great weather.


Sooo, not a lot of drama, but that was our 15 year celebration!  We want to plan something big for number 20.

Field trip season started.  I went with the girls to JMU for a Challenge field trip about wind.  Haley is in Challenge but not Shanna.  It's so sweet because the Challenge teacher invites Shanna to join in on extra activities since they are twins. She doesn't go to the Challenge instruction during the day at school, but participates in after school things or field trips.


Look what we spotted Sheldon!


The kids had their own challenge to make a windmill and make one that could carry weight and wind up the weighted item.  Not sure how to explain....... The windmill had to turn and while turning also wind up an object connected by string to the windmill.




See the cup at the end of the string?  That had to be pulled up when the blades turned.





For our sister's weekend Stephanie gave us all a super fun goodie bag.  In it were actual ears of popping corn and instructions on how to pop it in the microwave.  It was so fun and so good! Shanna is buttering an ear of corn and next to her is a bag of popped corn, and the empty bag for the buttered ear of corn.  I need to get a few of these!  They are so fun!