General Conference

General Conference was amazing. I still say it is like Christmas in many ways except these gifts you can take with you. And the talks are a lot like presents--some you love so much right away and others you put aside for now, and when you pick them up later, when you are ready for them, you realize how wonderful they are also. Since the text of the talks aren't available I realized I probably shouldn't quote anyone too much since while I am taking notes I add things and change words. I did notice an alliteration in a quote by Monson again--"Decisions determine Destiny". I like that. My favorite quote of Monson's was--"The future is as bright as your faith!" And until I'm digging graves for my little children in the frozen ground with a tablespoon like that poor woman he spoke of, I must not complain. It is a little frightening to realize how blessed I am and to realize how often I complain about things. I call it "Goldilocksing" and she was quite a brat. It was just amazing to hear a prophet of God speaking to us and to have my testimony reaffirmed that he really does tell us what God wants us to hear, as did all the apostles and speakers. At the end of the conference I felt almost physically shaken as he spoke about the adversary's use of the internet and how we must avoid that evil at all costs.
Another interesting thing for us was when Pres. Snow of the 70 mentioned Robert Gardner Jr. and his brother Archibald. Archibald is my great-great-great grandfather on my mom's father's side. We were able to look on my family history boards which are actually hanging up in the room where we watched conference and see his name at the very top. Very cool.
Conference weekend was like a bubble for us--no one called, we didn't run any errands, we spent the whole time together as a family (except when the guys went to the Priesthood session), and with Jer's horrible schedule lately and the worse one that is coming up, it really was a blessing. My little conference packets went over well (which I got off Sugardoodle) and the kids really liked the Bingo game. On Saturday, all of the kids played the Wii together and were actually nice to each other.
The game they were playing is probably my favorite Wii game now--Wii Music. The kids love playing the songs together and watching the videos of the little Miis. It is the only game that really brings everyone together for a purpose other than defeating each other. And Jer finally had time to play on the trampoline with the kids. This is my favorite picture though--my son who will be 16 in 4 months was playing with Star Wars toys between sessions. I had to sneak up on him to get the shot but he said he didn't mind me putting it on the blog. I'm planning on doing what I read in the Ensign somewhere, where you buy a copy of the conference edition for each member of the family, assign a talk for everyone to read each week and then discuss it for the lesson at FHE. I thought this might not go over so big for the younger kids but Hannah keeps asking where her magazine is and when it will get here. The hard part will be deciding which talks to use and in what order.