Faith, Family, Fun, and Food

 YAY for another 2 sessions of General Conference. We were especially glad to hear from our prophet, Thomas S. Monson. I posted this on Facebook, "Soooooo thankful to listen to a living prophet in our day. It's like getting to listen to Noah or Moses or Abraham. Also the 12 apostles (like listening to Peter, James, and John) and other leaders. EVERYONE is invited to watch HERE!!! #ldsconf

My two favorite "take aways" from what the Prophet said were:

"May we ever choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong."

& 

"As we contemplate the decisions we make in our lives each day—whether to make this choice or that choice—if we choose Christ, we will have made the correct choice."

 Autumn & Olivia played so cutely together. I noticed that they were wearing the same colors, just switched ... Olivia has a purple top and green pants while Autumn has a green top and purple pants! We didn't even plan that, it's just a happy coincidence.

 After the first session, the boys and kids went for a leisurely bike ride around the neighborhood while Riannon & I got lunch ready. The weather was PERFECT!

 For lunch we had pulled pork sliders with grilled squash & zucchini for our side dish. Yummy! We were so excited to think that Papa & Mimi will be home for the next General Conference in October!!! YAY!

 

 After lunch Autumn wanted to go outside and ride her bike a little more before the next session of conference started. When she came back in, she refused to take off her helmet and wore it most of the afternoon. Silly little bug!

 Olivia kept herself entertained by climbing up on the couch, getting a few of "The Friend" magazines, and flipping through them. It was so cute to watch her.

 I was THRILLED that Elder Holland was the last speaker. Of course they saved the best (in my opinion) for last. Here are some of my favorite gems he shared:

"With the gift of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the strength of heaven to help us, we can improve, and the great thing about the gospel is we get credit for trying, even if we don’t always succeed."

"The Lord blesses those who want to improve, who accept the need for commandments and try to keep them, who cherish Christlike virtues and strive to the best of their ability to acquire them."

"My brothers and sisters, the first great commandment of all eternity is to love God with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength—that’s the first great commandment. But the first great truth of all eternity is that God loves us with all of His heart, might, mind, and strength. That love is the foundation stone of eternity, and it should be the foundation stone of our daily life."

"Keep loving. Keep trying. Keep trusting. Keep believing. Keep growing. Heaven is cheering you on today, tomorrow, and forever."

What a WONDERFUL General Conference it was. I was very spiritually nourished, and am excited to reread the talks in the Ensign.

 We had to take advantage of the glorious weather, so I took the girls on a walk. We asked the people who own this property if we could take some pictures on their bench. They were happy to oblige. I LOVE Iris, especially these pretty purple ones.

 We found another bench w/ pretty flowers at another house in the neighborhood.

 Olivia loved looking at this water feature that had water coming out of a bucket.

 I have never seen flowers like this before and thought they looked like fireworks!

 It was fun to do a nature walk around the neighborhood. Shadow pictures are always fun.

 When we got back to the house we still wanted to bask in the wonderful weather. I got a camp chair and sat in the driveway to watch the girls play. Olivia had fun w/ sidewalk chalk and riding her tricycle up and down the driveway.

There were little green plants/weeds growing between the cracks in the driveway so Autumn sat down & started pulling them out b/c she said she didn't like them. Olivia got in on the action, too. I had to snap a pic & send it to Papa. He will be so pleased to see his girls weeding! It was such a fabulous weekend full of family, food, fun, and faith!