Conference Weekend

I love this time of year! Fall General Conference is my absolute favorite. In hopes of getting the girls to share in my excitement, I made an extra big deal about the weekend. I kept stressing the point that "this is a very special weekend." Madi caught on and was totally cute about it. When I asked her why it was such a special weekend, her answer was spot on: "cause we get to listen to the prophet and hear the things that Jesus wants us to know."

Friday night I tucked the girls into bed giddy with excitement and anticipation for watching conference the next morning. Then I proceeded to the kitchen to make cinnamon rolls for the very first time. I figured an extra special treat could add to the fun of a special weekend! They ended up being a hit and will most likely be a Conference weekend tradition. But next time I'm making them Saturday morning. Even though they came out of the oven at 9:30pm, I couldn't help but immediately devour a couple.

The weekend turned out to be just what I needed. It had been a rough couple weeks for me- feeling tired from the mundane life of a mom, exhausted from taking care of my 3 kids every need, angry at the messes created minutes after a room had been cleaned, frustrated with the girls constantly throwing their clothes all over the floor, and feeling inadequate with cooking and meal planning. Conference always leaves me feeling motivated, with a desire to be better, try harder, and make a difference. I'd like to say that the girls were just as touched and moved by the messages shared, but truthfully, the novelty of the Bingo boards, coloring sheets, drawing pages, and cinnamon rolls lasted no more than the first hour of Saturday session! While they undoubtedly understood very little of what was being said, I think they felt how special it was to be able to see and hear our prophet and the other general authorities.

Saturday morning bingo boards and coloring

Sunday morning lego building

I loved all the drawings my girls did during conference. Any guesses on what speaker Madi was watching as she drew this picture? She did a pretty accurate job in my opinion!

Other things I loved about the weekend:
-Running 7 miles (in 57 min) Saturday morning (had to work off those cinnamon rolls)!

-Seeing 2 super happy, excited little girls - eager to put dresses on, fix their hair, and sit down to watch conference.

-Visiting Lindsey and baby Alexa at the hospital Saturday afternoon. Madi was excited to come along and reminisce about the last time she came to the hospital 6 months ago.

-Snuggling between my two girls for a "popcorn movie night" while Spencer was away at Priesthood session. They felt completely spoiled getting to stay up til 8pm!

-Family walk between Sunday sessions

-Dinner at Boppi and Grandpa Al's after second session on Sunday.

-Meal planning with Spencer Sunday night. This was a big deal for me and made a huge difference in my mood this afternoon. Already knowing what we'd be eating for dinner took away my usual late afternoon stress. And even better- I know what I'm making the rest of the week and already have all the ingredients for all the meals! Why haven't we done this sooner?!