Wild About Chicks

Lately I have been dreaming of being a farmer.  Only problem.  I'm not one. I have no desire to read a bunch of books to become one. What I want is for a farmer to come and live with me. This way I can have him be in charge, tell me what to do, evaluate his methods- then tell him how he can do it better.  I like to learn from experience and then let common sense take over and find a better way. Simple enough, right? 

I recently watched a vlog by a lady who raises chickens and it was hilarious. She was making fun of all the wannabes. I'm a wannabe. How can I live out a portion of this dream of owning livestock? Beg Jordyn's teacher to let us bring the class pets home for the weekend. All week Jordyn was buttering up her teacher. On Thursday she came home from school and said, "mom, I think we've got a good chance at getting the chicks, my teacher asked me if I had brought them home yet and I told her no." 

First thing I did when we got home was have Jordyn snap some pictures of me living out my dream. I then sent them to a friend who has some land that I keep teasing that I want to start my farm on and they keep telling me that I can. I decided to test the sincerity by texting that I had bought some chicks and was coming over- which was accompanied by picture proof of my acquisition. Good times. Turns out I really could have started my farm.....after I build a fence. 

 Problem is, hens are a gateway livestock (the vlogger talked about that). Ethan would really love that because then we could get the goat he's always dreamed of and the ostrich, and the falcon. If we've gone that far we might as well get a cow and oh my gosh. A horse.  I totally need a horse to go and visit all my livestock. Oh, and I still want bees. Problem is. You can't be a farmer and not have a garden. I have proven time and again that I have a brown thumb. It's a little depressing. Again, all my problems would be solved if I could just convince a farmer to come and live with me and teach me the ropes. I'm not afraid of the work. I just need someone to tell me what to do and when to do it and I'm set.....after, of course, I have an argument about how it should be done. hahaha

 Jordyn loved having the chicks.  She kept them in her room and had to leave the door shut so that Watson wouldn't try to eat them.  Poor dog was going crazy that they were in the house. Jordyn's room started smelling like a farm. She kept letting them out to "stretch their legs" thus they pooped all over her carpet. Disgusting. I cleaned up so much chicken poop in one weekend that it was almost a deterrent from wanting my very own.  But, look at how much fun she was having with them. When we were getting everything set up to transport them back to the school this morning, her favorite chick, "ducky" didn't want to come off of her shoulder.  She said, "poor thing, he has bonded with me and doesn't want to go back." What a cutie. 

For as much as Ethan is obsessed with "exotic" animals, he sure didn't spend much time with the chicks. I guess they weren't exotic enough for him. Jordyn's friend and classmate spent the night at our house. I guess they figured that they couldn't get scolded for playing on the computer too much if they were playing with the chicks at the same time. Her friend was smart putting a towel on her shoulder in case of any accidents.  

So, the chicks are back at school along with the barnyard smell and loads of poop. I wonder how long it will be before I get crazy and start a farm for real. Maybe soon.  Maybe never. I think I need to move to some acreage.

Tucson

I visited Tucson for the very first time last week.  It was one of those things that just happens.  My friend, who lives in AZ, and I usually attend the Time Out For Women in Phoenix together.  After our experience the last 2 times we decided that we never really wanted to go back to that event because there were just too many people.  When they decided to hold an event in Tucson for the first time ever, we thought about going but neither of us were that committed.  I had just attended general conference and it's the end of the school year so there's a million things going on.  Two weeks before the event a friend of mine from church mentioned the event and how she wished she could go.  I told her how I had thought about it but never made plans.  We decided right then and there that we were going and by monday we had our tickets and a hotel booked and my friend from AZ dragged into joining us. It's always fun to be spontaneous.

There's not a whole lot to do in Tucson and it looks eerily similar to NM, with the exception that there are a few more places to eat than we have.  One of which was a place that had 8 kinds of bacon.  Now that's something you've got to try!  They didn't get the best reviews on-line but we decided to see for ourselves.  I got jalapeño bacon and it totally made my sandwich.  The service was pretty crappy and my friends dish wasn't that amazing, but mine was the bomb.  

How can you kill a few hours?  Visit the mini time machine miniatures museum.  I loved the front door.  

The museum was full of miniatures.  It's pretty interesting.  What I can't understand is that these things cost thousands of dollars.  It is an expensive hobby that requires lots and lots of room in one's house....thus the lady that started this museum, started a museum....to get all the stuff out of her house. 

You've gotta get chocolate when the opportunity presents itself. What was so hilarious is that the ladies kept giving us samples.  I was being indecisive -not on purpose- so they just kept handing us chocolate.  Should I mention that my friend is diabetic and has an insulin pump? She was totally fine. However, I was feeling pretty sick after all the samples and then I had to buy some to take home, which made me feel even worse about myself. 

The reason for the trip to Tucson was to go to the "time out for women" event. It is so fun sharing these experiences with friends. I also have to say that I really liked that it was much smaller than phoenix. You didn't have to run to get seats, fight to exit or enter the building. If you wanted a snack you could get one without missing half of the event by standing in line. You also had plenty of options for lunch and not much competition to get there. You didn't have to plan your bathroom break during a speaker to avoid standing in long lines. Overall it was very relaxing.

I decided that this was my time to not be afraid and feel dumb about asking to get my picture taken with my favorite presenters. I asked my friends to not let me chicken out.  I just never know what to say to them and I feel like such a dork.  Luckily there wasn't really any time left when it was finally our turn with Brad Wilcox.  You can see on the screen behind us that the program was going to start in 22 seconds.  Awkward problem solved.  Yippee.  He gave such an amazing talk.  

Next up, one of my favorite women. I want to grow up to be just like Sheri Dew. She's awesome. I love how she leads people in a conversation. How slow and thoughtful she is to respond and the kind of questions she asks that get you to dig deep. She's amazing and gave an amazing talk.....and I didn't chicken out. I also didn't say anything except probably something like "thank you" or "I love you" or something simple like that. 

On Saturday my friend from NM was sick and the force behind my courage. I had to dig deep and meet S Michael Wilcox by myself.  I knew I didn't want to wait until the lunch break when the lines to meet the presenters would be long because I needed to pick my friend up from the hotel where she hadn't left because she was ill.  I told my other friend to kick my butt and make me walk up there during one of the mini breaks. He just so happened to walk out and when I saw that he wasn't rushing off anywhere, I approached. I got to put my arm around him and sadly, because I was the only one up there, had plenty of time to talk with him about anything I wanted to. Thing is. I never think they give a rats pattooty about anything I have to say, so I freeze.  I did manage to croak out something about loving his temple book and him being an inspiration to me. Then I hung my head in shame and dashed away. But as I dashed, I was floating on air. I was so excited. He seriously is a major inspiration to me. The man can tell a story and suck you into the scripture with such brilliance and subtle animation. He's captivating and I would love, love, love to go on a tour of Jerusalem with him. 

On the long drive home we stopped somewhere I can't remember anymore to get some gas and stretch the legs. I was very intrigued by the lure of "the thing." Enquiring minds have got to know. What is it? Well, they wanted 1 dollar to go into a room and see. I'm no sucker. You're not rooking me out of a buck to see some horribly done stuffed animal. So, I still have no idea what the thing is. My husband, on the other hand, when told that I didn't fork over the buck said: "that was totally worth it, I would have paid the buck to see it." 

Student of the Month

Last Thursday before I headed out for Tucson, I went to a breakfast at Ethan's school to celebrate all the "Student of the month" recipients.  When he handed me the invitation, I looked at him and said, "are you sure this is for you?"  Don't get me wrong, me kid is a sweetie pie and the most willing of my children to help me -with the exception of Jordyn - but he can be a punk.  

Isn't it always reassuring when someone tells you something nice about your kid and you sigh a huge sigh of relief because it's what you have been trying desperately to teach them, but by all accounts looks like you are failing while they are at home with you?

It reminds me of a talk by one of the presenters at TOFW that I was at over the weekend.  It's actually one of the talks that I didn't get to see because I decided to drive us the 7 hours back early to get my ill friend home.  Anyway.  They always give a little pre-view at the beginning of the morning for what they will be talking about later.  She was going to talk about the girl that was on guided tour and when they stopped for a bathroom break she changed her clothes and did something different with her hair.  When she boarded the bus no one recognized her.  This made them think she was missing and so they organized a search party.  She joined the search party for the poor missing girl.  It wasn't until several hours later and it was 3 am that they finally realized that the girl they were looking for was part of the search party looking for her.  She was looking for herself!  Why was she looking for herself?  Because she didn't recognize the description given of her.  

How funny and how sad is that?  I'm sure it was going to be an amazing talk.  Just the story was enough to have me create my own application.  How often are we guilty of not being able to identify properly those around us- they change and we still see the old them. How often do we find ourselves feeling like we are lost and searching for who we really are because we seem to make the same mistakes over and over again. We have a different vision for ourselves than our reality. Or someone pays us a compliment on a character trait and we think; "are you sure you are talking about me? Or. Did I do that?(in your best urkel voice- of course)" Why are we unable to see ourselves or those around us as we/they really are.

OK, enough of my little sidetrack, my little man earned himself a student of the month award and I'm super proud!

 All the recipients of the award for 6th- 8th grade and all the different teams. Some of the teams went all out in describing the wonderful and amazing students and had elaborate gifts for them.  Ethan did get a bag full of goodies, though his team wasn't mushy about it by going on and on about how awesome they or the parents that raised them are. Just congratulations and heres' your stuff. Short and sweet, just how I like it.

Fields of Adventure

Have you ever tried to do something nice for someone and it has been an epic failure? I wanted to do something nice for our friends who watched Watson for us while we were in Ut. I've made this cake several times, but this time I guess I was feeling lazy because I didn't even out the cakes.  I think another problem was that I put blueberries on some of it for the member of the family that doesn't like strawberries and it made the cake even more unstable. I put the cake in the fridge until I could deliver it and when i went to pull it out I discovered that it had cracked and fell apart. I had to send my txt of shame letting the family know that they were going to get a delicious treat, but that it was now too destroyed to deliver.  It's the thought that counts, right? I made another one a couple days later and it was perfection.  

On the bright side, Emma came home from school, saw the cake and started jumping for joy exclaiming that she had the best mother in the whole world that would make her a cake. She cared nothing for the condition of the cake and was actually happy about it because that meant that she got to eat it.....which also meant that I was going to have to eat it too, darn it! Between the 2 of us we polished that cake!

 On Friday of last week I went into the school for a field trip with the 5th graders. Jordyn's class gets to take care of little baby chicks so I had to get a picture while I waited to leave on the trip. These 2 are called twilight and midnight. Aren't they the cutest. They get to keep the chicks for a couple weeks and then they change out for new ones. Subsequently their classroom smells like a farm, but it's worth it.

 We left the school at 9:15am and headed for the train station to take us to Santa Fe. All of the 5th grade classes attended so it was quite the gaggle of kids trying to find seats on the train.  The regulars were looking none too pleased with our boarding. I was also a bit skittish about them standing so close to the tracks. One wrong move and someone was going to get smacked. Luckily everyone survived in tact. Jordyn has recently started becoming a punk to me in front of her friends and she almost refused to let me take a picture of her on the train. I didn't even get to sit by her -which is fine - I made some new friends who were super happy to be sitting next to me.

 The first thing I do when I get a group assigned to me is have them pick out a team name. This helps create unity and identity. I can easily gather my group back in by calling out for them. They chose "the mighty elephants" for their name. 

We visited the oldest church in the US from 1610 and the oldest house in the US.  We also saw the round house, a war memorial and another old church. 

There were a couple of funny things along the way. First off, I hate being a chaperone when we aren't given any real power or authority to chaperone. It's really pointless. After reading a book about leadership, it's kinda ruined me for watching people trying to be leaders. Me and my big mouth had to question some things that weren't making any sense. I also love observing peoples speaking skills. I'm personally trying to get rid of using the word "um" while I'm trying to think and speak at the same time - it's not going very well- in fact the more I try to stop, the more I say um.  There was a teacher there telling us about the memorial and instead of saying um he said "guys."  I'm sure it was one of those things that was born from trying to engage the students to eventually becoming a tick.  I usually take on character traits from people that fascinate me, that fascinated me so watch out, I just might start saying "guys" instead of "um."

The last funny thing happened while we were in the big church. It wasn't a scheduled stop but we had time and they offered to give us a tour. The church wasn't as old as the smaller one, but still quite old. The man giving the tour was getting too religious for some of the teachers and parents. They started grumbling in the back and saying "stick to the history" and they were becoming more and more uncomfortable when he was describing a painting of Jesus that was from the 1700's. I guess being in a religious building you are only allowed to talk about columns and stucco and not why the building is there or what the paintings are depicting. Talk about needing a chill pill. I don't see how in any way shape or form did that infringe upon me or my religion or my rights or anything. I'm not of the same religion as that man or his church, but I can still appreciate it and respect it. They ended up cutting the guy off and telling him that we needed to leave. Ridiculous. 

 OK, here is my proof that some places in NM are beautiful and have trees!  I love this time of year!  Jordyn got embarrassed because I started signing "popcorn popping on the apricot tree" while we were sitting on the lawn of the roundhouse eating lunch. Knowing now how upset people became after lunch at that church and that I was sitting on government property, I probably shouldn't have been signing a "religious" song.  They just may have used one of those trees to string me from if they would have known ;)

 After we got home from the field trip we watched a friend's daughter. Emma was trying to get a picture with the 2 girls and they weren't cooperating. I tried to be sneaky and help. The only thing it did was show off Emma's incredible picture acting skills. Oh my goodness she makes me laugh. We finally got them to pose for a couple of pictures later - at the threat of not being able to see Cinderella.  Which, by the way, is such a good movie.  "Have courage and be kind."  Love it.

 Ethan was at a campout Friday night and when he got home Saturday we had to attend to his knife cut. He was carving wood and cut his finger. He was pretty upset about it and pretty sure he almost cut his finger off. It was a minor flesh wound, but Nate gave him the full treatment. Nate was actually pretty bummed that it didn't need stitches. He was all ready for some major damage repair.

I also found out about some burns and falling down hills that also occurred. I seriously don't like to know what goes on at these campouts because it's never good. Men watching boys is dangerous and moms just shouldn't know about it.

 For a nice little treat for my mighty elephant's, I made them photo albums.  Thank goodness for a coupon because each of the 5 girls got 27 pictures and a dollar store album.  Our class wasn't allowed to bring their cell phones or anything electronic so when they saw other classes whipping out their devices and snapping pictures, they were bugged. At least my girls got whatever pictures I took so they didn't miss out.

Last field trip.  Nate had a business trip on Sunday to Memphis and stayed at a famous hotel. This hotel brings in live ducks to swim in their fountain everyday and has a duck theme. Nate brought me home one of the soaps on Monday (it was a short trip) so I could share in the experience. Isn't it cute? It smells really good too and he now sits on my nightstand where I can enjoy him.

Quick Trip

We made a super quick trip to Utah so that we could feed my addiction of attending General Conference.  The kids are always super excited about being cooped up in a car for hours so I have to get them lots of medicine aka junk food. 

Quote of the day by Emma "eating jr mints is like brushing your teeth with candy." This was supposed to help her stop eating the other candy. We shall see.

That's a super smaug stash of junk for our road trip! That's Jared's "I sit up at night and think of what it would be like to have a soul" face smile emoticon

One of the undisputed best things to do in Utah is eat.  There are always too many options for how much time we have.  The stop at the donut truck was our favorite and most memorable.  We were quite the crowd.  There were so many delicious options to choose from so I asked the girl working in the truck to help me decide.  She told me about the lemon bar and convinced me to give them a try.  Then she said "don't you come to our truck like everyday?"  Um, nope.  First time.  I came all the way from NM because I heard about your delicious donuts!  I guess I have a doppelgänger living somewhere in Ut who stalks the donut truck.....does sound strangely familiar to something I would do. 

  

On a completely almost unrelated note.  While we were walking through costco tonight Emma tried to get me to buy the carmel macadamia nut clusters.  Jared told her that it wasn't a good idea because I would eat them all.  Then everyone started making fun of me and Jared added that if Dad died I would survive only on those clusters and become 600lbs.  While we were leaving we saw someone only purchase a box of magnum bars.  Do you know what those are?  Ice cream bars of total bliss, that's what they are.  They are also about 10,000 calories each.  The kids started busting up when they saw the look of admiration on my face for that ladies purchase.  I so wanted it to be me taking those home.  

We made it to the Saturday morning session - missing the drama of the afternoon session - the opposing votes for the 1st presidency.  We were watching it on tv and had to rewind to make sure we heard what we thought we heard.  Anyway, the streets were crowded and I still had to try and get a pic of the family in front of the temple.  Can you see how they happy they were about it?  Especially Jared with his "I don't have a soul" pose.  Aaahhh "families can be together forever......" if only to further the torture.  Hahaha

By Sunday afternoon, this is how watching conference was going.  I was still going strong taking notes, but I was the only one.  It must be hard to live with me when I want to watch all 6 sessions of conference live.  At least women's session was the week before, but that was still 9 hours of conference for the weekend.  They were troopers.

Jordyn was so happy to be able to spend time with grandma cooking.  They made some super cute Easter themed cupcakes for our dinner Sunday night.

The Easter Bunny decided that everyone had been eating far too much junk to hand out even more candy.  He knew the kids had been wanting a new Wii for a long time so they just got that.  It was pretty funny when while Emma and Jared were waiting for the big reveal they both said "I hope it's a Wii."  They didn't even miss getting baskets full of candy.

Our favorite part was getting to hang out with family for Easter dinner.  We were able to use the clubhouse in the community that Nate's parents live in.  While we were cleaning everything up at the end and I pulled out the vacuum cleaner I had a strange feeling like I was cleaning up after a ward party. 

I can't think of a better way to spend a weekend. 

 

I guess I can throw in our pictures from the women's session the week before.  It is so fun to be able to get dressed up and go to the stake center with my daughters and other sisters and friends from our stake to partake in the spirit of unity while we gather to listen to the voice of the Lord through His prophets and servants.  Jordyn gets more and more impressive with her note taking.  My favorite part is talking about our notes later and seeing what everyone picked up on.  We never all hear all the same things.  The theme of the night was The Family: A Proclamation.  That message was loud and clear from all of the speakers. President Eyring spoke of the family of God and our responsibilities as members of that family.  It was excellent.  

Fragile

There are lots of fragile things around us. For example. Our faith in humanity is pretty fragile at times.  Especially when a hotel can't trust it's guests to not steal the iron. Apparently this is a problem.  It's also a dangerous tripping hazard when the only outlet is across the room from the tied down iron and board. It saddens me that people can't be trusted not to steal an iron.  

What else is fragile?  Bird's nests. The nest decided to wait until we returned home from Utah to get blown off the hanging light on our porch.  How sad it that? There was even a little egg that was smashed. I've never looked inside a nest before so when I got the opportunity, I was surprised at how comfy it was on the inside. It was all billowy soft in there. Its and incredible masterpiece. What great care that momma bird took in making such a nice home. I'm waiting to see if she will rebuild or if she's moved on.  

The ability to recognize when one is happy is also very fragile.  Luckily our Heavenly Father, in His infinite wisdom, placed us in families so that we could remind each other of our happiness.  Sometimes you need evidence that you are happier than you think you are.  Yep, there's the illusive smile.  When we aren't trying so hard to convince ourselves of our misery we might actually find that we are quite content.  Unfortunately I suffer from this same affliction and my husband has to point out to me my happy moments.  

Our family relationships are fragile.  It's always hard trying to figure out what I can and cannot say here.  Fingers crossed that the intent comes across.

Sometimes in the process of being individuals and trying to understand each other, we can let ourselves become angry and subsequently a cavern of distance begins to grow between us. If left unchecked that cavern only deepens with further hurt and misunderstanding. 

Miracles can happen when we decide to put aside our fears and doubts.  Magical donut things can happen.  Through a set of events that looked like both parties weren't interested in seeing each other, when time was taken to resolve the matter instead of assume, we found our way to each other after years of separation.  A donut truck making piping hot pillows of heaven topped with all manner of delightful pleasures sure doesn't hurt in fostering a reunion of this type. 

There is nothing that should ever keep family apart. Our family has titled this experience "the donut miracle."  OK, seriously look at those donuts.  Mine was the lemon bar.  It had lots of powdered sugar and lemon custard and it was delish....and also very fragile.  The donuts were so soft they had a hard time holding their shape and not falling apart.  

My ability to not let myself ruin my day is very fragile.  When something starts to bug me, it is hard for me to recover.  My family has to suffer because of it.  It frustrates me that I get stuck and can't seem to dig my way out of my feelings.  I was all excited for conference and then for some reason I woke up in a fowl mood and it just spiraled worse from there. By the time we got to our seats none of my family was talking to me. Jordyn even refused to take a picture with me when I decided that it was time to recover this mess that I had made for myself. Sometimes you've just got to persevere against the darkness.

Our testimonies are another very fragile thing.  I felt pretty strongly that I should ask Jared to think of a question for conference to seal up and reveal after.  It took him until we were driving to the Saturday morning session for him to finally write something down.  Luckily I just so happened to have an envelope in my purse from the previous Sunday (Ethan's class wrote thank you letters to their moms).  We also scrounged up a note pad and then he finally had to commit something to paper.  He didn't want to write anything religious because that would be too easy.  Anything could count as an answer.  He didn't tell me what he wrote except to say that he wanted to pick something non-religious.  This got me worried thinking that he was looking for someone to mention string theory or something.  Maybe say something about dragons.  Who knows.  I had been pleading for a couple weeks like Alma prayed for his son Alma the younger that somehow, some way he would receive an answer.  

When you live with a crazy person like me, conference weekend can be a bit long.  That's 9 hours of conference that we watched.  Every single session, including priesthood.  Well, he was not into it and was watching videos and playing around on his phone most of the time.  Nate was secretly glad because he didn't believe in my miracle and figured he could blame Jared and his lack of paying attention for not receiving the answer when he didn't get it.  

As each session passed and I didn't hear anything science related that I figured was enough of an answer, my own faith started to waiver.  I heard lots of things that I thought would help him, but knew he wasn't hearing them.  We had already discussed on the car ride to the saturday morning session how we receive answers.  We discussed that the person talking doesn't have to use exact words or even really talk specifically about what was asked, but that the Holy Ghost could convey truth in a number of ways.

It wasn't until Tuesday night that I finally had the courage to ask him about it.  I couldn't just not follow up.  That would make me look bad. I asked him where he had put the envelope.  I was braced for anything that was coming my way.  Like I lost it.  You can't see it.  That was stupid and didn't work.  I was ready.  He was happy when he responded "I'm not sure what happened to it, I think it might be in my suit jacket."  When I asked if the jacket were hanging in the closet and if I could retrieve it he said "yes, it's hanging up, I'll go get it."  I thought he was going to get it and destroy it so I said "It's ok, I'll go get it" to which he said "no, I'll go get it.  I'll come back.  I left my laptop on your bed so you know I'm coming back."  

When he got back I'm like "so...?" 

 "I'm calling it 1 for 2"

"you got 1 answer?!"

"yeah, but I didn't get the other one"

"you got an answer?!"

I cannot describe the joy I felt by the look on his face when he said he got an answer.  He even let me look at the paper and keep it.  

Question 1: unity of science and faith

he felt like that wasn't addressed

Question 2: grace and requirement for heaven

this is a subject we have talked a lot about and he loves the talk by Brad Wilcox called "Grace."  I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to call him up and tell him that my son is taking everything he said out of context and misrepresenting the truths he was trying to speak of.  What did Uchtdorf talk about Sunday morning?  Grace!  My favorite line from that talk was "obedience is the reaching out of our hands to receive the gift of grace."  What was also funny is that on our way into the conference center there was a protestor yelling that we don't need works to get into heaven and how Mormons need to repent of their phony repentance.  Jared thought it funny and remarked "that guy is just lazy and doesn't want to do anything."  I was actually a little shocked since I thought he would think the guy was onto something per our previous conversations.  That experience might have been the opening to be ready to hear what Uchtdorf said Sunday morning.  

My own faith in what I knew was even fragile.  I began to fear and have doubt that I didn't actually receive inspiration.  What a lesson I had in trust.  Trusting that Jared is Heavenly Father's son and he knows what he needs and when he needs it.  I needed to have faith that I was told that I needed him to write down a question and that it would be answered.  Sometimes it can look like we have been set up for failure but we've got to remain strong and faithful and trust.  

What got me thinning about fragility was Gerald Causse's talk in conference.  He said:

"Our ability to marvel is fragile." His talk reminded me of the "flecks of gold" that we are trying to help our seminary students see.  If we aren't looking, we won't see with our spiritual eyes, and our ability to see is based upon our willingness to see.  Each time we marvel, our ability to marvel is strengthened and we begin to see more and more.  I want (and I want everyone around me) to have "eyes that see and ears that hear." 

I would have to say that the coolest moment came for me when Elder Bednar spoke Saturday afternoon.  First of all, the last 2 times he has spoken sunday afternoon and I've almost missed it because I was having to leave Utah.  This time my husband took pity on me and my craziness and decided that this time we would leave on Monday so I didn't have to miss anything.  

What did Elder Bednar talk about?  Fear.  I had just written a blog post on the 31st  about fear, and here he was giving the most amazing talk on it.  Seriously, forget everything I said and read his talk!  Amazing and I marvel to know that we are thinking about the same thing.  That is the power of the Holy Ghost.  Teaching each of God's children individually, but with the same message.  Teaching it to the level of understanding each student has.  

There were several times this conference where I wrote something down that were thoughts or experiences that I was having instead of just notes.  One in particular was when President Packer was speaking. We were in the conference center and it was really hard to understand what he was saying and he was speaking very softly.  My brain was working really hard to try and understand him.  What I should have been using instead was the spirit.  I looked over at Jordyn who was taking tons of notes.  She looked at me saying "this is my favorite talk, look how many notes I have."  It testified to me that the Holy Ghost is real and powerful and miraculous and personal and the master teacher.  Another note I made was while L Tom Perry was speaking Jordyn turned to me and said "I feel the spirit when I'm in the same room as Thomas S Monson."  Her saying that reminds me of last conference when someone said something about not taking for granted the feelings of love you have for the prophet.  Those feelings are a gift of the spirit.  Or something like that.  I wish I could remember who said it.  

I hope I never lose the ability to marvel at all God's creations (like beautiful snow capped mountains) and the miracles he is working in my life every single day.  How can I ensure that?  Follow the counsel of Elder Causse who gave us 3 things to do (according to my notes):

1. Never tire of discovering or re-descovering the gospel.  Hunger and thirst after special knowledge everyday.

2. anchor faith in plain and simple truths

3. seek and cherish companionship of the Holy Ghost