Tuesday, April 10, 2018

General Conference and Easter

We left Denver and didn't have a seat for Liam, but luckily the flight was not full and they let us bring his car seat on. I was very relieved and felt very blessed since it's much easier when we can be three across. Liam did pretty good on the flight, though he didn't sleep much. He's just an active boy.

We got in and the kids wanted to go swimming right away. My mom had asked if we wanted the pool heated, but we thought we'd be tired so we said no. Well, the kids persevered and went in even when the water was very cold. They absolutely loved it. And over the course of the week Ryan got better and better and seems pretty confident in the pool now.











We planned on watching all the sessions of general conference, but I was surprised when my mom gave Lily and notebook and she plopped down to begin listening and taking notes. She listen to every talk during every general session. In the end she thought she had only listened to four hours total, she was surprised to find out it was eight hours! Her notes were excellent and she even wrote about the songs. I was truly blown away by how she captured the essence of the talks and how she had the patience to sit through everything. I was very proud of her.

My dad sent an email to Elder Ballard with the notes she had taken from his talk and he was kind enough to email her back! She was very excited.

The played a lot and hopefully heard something :)




We were all very surprised and excited to hear about the changes in the joining of Elders Quorum and High Priests and the change to the idea of ministering rather than home and visiting teaching, as well as the temples announced in places like India and Russia. These are exciting times and President Russell M. Nelson is moving swiftly to do the work of the Lord. Being part of the solemn assembly was also very neat since I don't remember doing that with Presidents Hinckley and Monson. It's a great time to be a member of the church with all the wonderful resources and inspiration that's taking place.

For Easter Nicki and Evans came over for an Easter egg hunt and dinner. We dyed eggs and hunted for baskets before they came. The kids loved their candy and their legos. Max thought we were hiding the dyed eggs, so he put them in hiding spots on the stair steps.








Lily found out some eggs had coins, so she only picked up the ones that made a jingling noise when she shook it. She found over $7.

The kids had fun collecting flowers out front. 
Ryan's getting ready to build Max his lego set.
After company left, we had our recital. Lily and Ryan played their songs and Jeff played for me to sing. It's so fun having a husband who can play so well! I love singing Lamb of God music and my parents love that music as well so they enjoyed listening. It was a wonderful weekend!

Max loved getting his back tickled by Papa



This was the easiest bedtime we've ever had with Max. 


This group was often in here playing the justice league game. Lily was always begging to play. 
Max was in heaven when he found this dart gun. 
After this night we put a pillow under the sheet to act as a barrier so he wouldn't fall out again. 
Liam loved putting things through the trash compartment. 


Fun at Granny Dot and Papa's house

We had such a wonderful time visiting Granny Dot and Papa. The kids swam practically every day, sometimes twice a day. They loved riding in the convertible and watching it transform. Nathan was in town for work, so it was fun to see him and night and chat. 

"It's a transformer!" Dad in his chauffeur hat


Not sure what they are trying to show Nathan. 
They could have stayed in the pool all day long
Nathan came to town and one of the first things he did was make delicious peanut butter, chocolate chip cookies.  
Liam loved Papa and was always reaching out to him
Max got in on the convertible fun too
 I think Nathan is dictating a letter from Liam
The library became the game and lego room
Ryan and Daddy with Papa

Liam loved the pool too!
Lily found a great reading spot in the house
My mom and I practicing our Maori stick game. She learned as a young single adult and I learned in 5th grade. My mom still remembers her song and routine. We practiced a lot, but all the mistakes made for lots of laughter. Jeff came downstairs asking what was so funny, and Lily told him we kept laughing and to just ignore us. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. 



Maria was of course an angel and always offering to help out with kids. Liam, like the rest, loved the organ. 

These boys could have played the avengers lego game all day. This made me happy we don't have video games. It was hard to get them to quit. 
Lily loved her car ride!