Happiness

Sunshine makes me happy in the afternoon...



Reading makes me happy in the afternoon...


Hello Kitty bandages on noses make little girls happy in the afternoon...


Thumb sucking makes him happy all night long....


Popped amaranth makes my tummy happy in the morning....


While our higher-elevation friends have been surviving snow that past few days, we actually had a pleasantly sunny afternoon yesterday!  This April will go down as the second coldest on record, unless today and tomorrow stay below 45 degrees...then we're the coldest on record for the area.  A dubious distinction.  My plants are just sluggish, but on the bright side, I think I still have time to plant more spring crops, to fill in the holes where previous plantings didn't germinate!  

How to Make a High Necked Tank Top

So help me, I'm a genius.

Have you noticed that shirts are getting more and more low cut?  I've been wearing tank tops and t-shirts under most of my shirts for years, but the larger the size, the lower the front of the tank top.  Not much help!  My five-year-old turned to me on Saturday and said "Mom....that shirt is NOT modest.  When are you going to stop wearing it?"

OK, ouch.  I'm forever yanking on my tank tops, yanking on my shirt, yanking on EVERYTHING trying to keep a sense of decency!  (Let me tell you, babies do not appreciate prudishness in their mothers.)  Moms are always bending, sitting, stretching, moving...and clothes don't like to cooperate.

You ready for my amazing tank-top makeover?  Put it on backwards.  Yeah.

Problem solved!

Easter!

Alright, who remembers Veggie Tales?  Sing along now..."The bunny, the bunny, WHOA I ate the bunny!"

Why yes. We did.

No, it's not any less scary in person.



The kids chose these little cakes, I can't imagine why!



(It's not immediately clear, but those are shaped like animals...whale, monkey, giraffe, hippo, etc.)

One double batch of my favorite yellow cake, a big 'ol bowl of "no bake fudge frosting" and I think we ended our Easter meal on a properly festive note, eh??

The baby was concerned, though.  Poor thing.



Despite recent developments, Ernie was able to power through her slice just fine, thankyouverymuch, canIhaveanother?  (Thankfully, she wasn't ill last night after dinner. She saved that for today, which was spectacular.  Have you ever seen a child's belly able to reasonably substitute for a bongo drum?  I have, too many times now!  Can it have been the jelly beans she ate today?  I'm totally clutching at straws here.)



Easter services went off without a hitch.  The children sang their songs, and we had some great speakers.  Baby looked dashing, no?  Well, he perked up later...he was a little grumpy about being woken up from his nap and plopped into his Sunday finery!



Annnnd....yes.  We got family pictures.  Hooray!!

All the sibs.  Somehow, I'm the only one with hair anymore... do you think we all look alike?


And, if you ignore the fact that Siu Jeun has his finger up his nose, Mimi is covering most of her face, Baby looks dazed, and E is infatuated with Aunt Bert's chin....great shot, right?  Ha.  Totally true to life.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter, everyone!  True to form, I'm dashing off a quick note while the dishes wait and the baby is asleep.  We enjoyed some absolutely AMAZING weather this weekend- sunny, breezy, warm, and just wonderful.  Sadly, it only lasted an evening and a day, and we're back to cold, gray drizzle.  But I have photos, and I spent HOURS in the sunshine yesterday, so my Vitamin D batteries are a bit recharged.



Umm.  My daughter just walked in and handed me a tooth.  Toof.  What?!  I hope the Tooth Fairy knows how to get here, it will be her first visit!

We're all so happy that Tax  Season is over.




I hope everyone is having a lovely Easter!  We'll be celebrating with all the family in the area, and my little brother is home from college for the weekend.  I'm hoping to get one GOOOOD photo of us all together.  The last good picture of everyone happened....umm...never.  Yeah, it's never happened.  But we did get a nice picture of all the grandkids (my generation) about 15 years ago.  All the little girls are dressed up in their fancy dresses....Baby C had a snazzy little outfit on, but he spit on it during church.  BOOO.  Lavender shirt, pin-striped grey trousers and vest, little purple tie....he looked very much like the young men where we go to church.  So colorful!  So dapper!  His dad was having a field day getting the boy dressed this morning...I think I'm realizing what it looks like to the dads when us moms go gaga over little dresses and headbands for our girls.  :)

-Myrnie

Thank You

Thank you for everyone's well wishes for our family this week....Ernie has been sick the last few months, and we finally think we found some answers yesterday, so at least we have a laundry list of things to "do."  Which is way better than a laundry list of symptoms we can't control!

We'll be spending the day celebrating our newest addition with family and friends, but I wanted to stop in and say thanks!



PS- Washing down a "dulcalax" with a big glass of "miralax" apple juice is...effective.  Just sayin'.  Especially on an increasingly tiny five-year-old body.

PPS- The nurse promised if we stuck the tiny dulcalax pill in a spoonful of jam, it would go right down.  No, it didn't.  But she sure got a lot of jam!  In the end it took an entire glass of apple juice, 2 spoonfuls of jam, 2 spoonfuls of pudding, and FINALLY a spoonful of jam and sticky Nutella.  Hello sugar!

Healthy

After way too long of a break, I'm trying to get healthy food back into our house.  REALLY healthy food, as in fresh grains and fresh greens....beans..proteins that aren't breaded and baked....basically, I'm reaching for the stars and want the moon on my plate, with a side of kale chips.  I'd be lying if I said that my kids willingly ate those foods when I was cooking them regularly...they relied on the fact that I would allow bread and butter to be substituted for the dinner I made, after a "no thank you" bite.

We've totally lost the concept of the "no thank you" bite.

Asian meatballs, made with ground turkey, were a huge hit with the big girl, so I took the last bit of meat, made EXACTLY the same mixture as my meatballs, and cooked it up in a skillet to make lettuce wraps.

This isn't funny, Mom.

It has color!  It's not WHITE!  It has texture...multiple textures!  Totally not cool!  It has lettuce...that's a leaf....leaves are BAD.





I won't even keep my plate in front of me, this is OFFENSIVE!  You took the wrap off the plate and put it in front of me again?  HA, I won't even touch it!





Milk...is my life.  It is the only thing that can sustain me in the face of this pure evil.


The big girl was so upset by dinner, she actually came to me thinking she was about to heave.  Not pretty.

Winter is ending, our reliance on potatoes, turnips, apples, onions, and carrots is almost over.  Wish me luck! And...send recipes.  Real food, kid approved...not too much to ask, right?

PS- No, Ernie is not recovering from pox.  She has effectively ripped off ALL her cuticles, and has now discovered that her face has texture, which can be scratched off daily, thereby increasing the texture and prolonging the number of times she can scratch it off every day.  Given this alarming habit, and that she will cheerfully forgo ANY meal that she'd rather not eat, I'm not sure she knows what pain means.

PPS- With one exception, the big girl will not touch soup.  She will not eat leaves of any sort, or anything with vinegar or spice.  She will not eat anything that looks like a casserole, and she will not eat sauce on her pasta, unless it is white. Food must be of one color, and one texture.  You may not chop up veggies and sneak them in.  It may be crunchy or smooth, but it can not be chunky.  All stone fruit is verboten, but berries, cucumbers, potatoes, apples, carrots, and bananas are good.  So is corn on the cob, but NOT off.  Yogurt is good, but should be vanilla, thereby fulfilling the "white" and "smooth" requirements.  Turnips may be boiled and mashed with potatoes to make tatties and neeps, but the end product must be pure white.  Rutabagas may not be substituted, as they will render the final product purple.  Potatoes may be baked, mashed, or fried.  They may not be made into gnocchi.  She will eat quinoa, sushi, edamame, and any breaded and fried minced meat including chicken nuggets (but not strips), fish sticks, and octopus.  She will eat rice with beans.  She will not eat mango, pineapple, kiwi, or anything interesting.  She would live on top ramen, white rice, white bread, and milk if she could.

Save Your Mayo Lids, Save Your Ruined Jam, Save Your Dry Cake

My public announcements for the day: Mayonnaise jar lids fit on canning jars.

If you make a batch of jam, and don't believe the people who say you can NEVER double a batch of jam, and your jam doesn't set...congratulations, you've made strawberry syrup. Put it in your milk, on your ice cream, and maybe even on your sandwiches. It's just like the squeezable jam I've seen at the grocery store!

If you make a loaf cake, and it's a few days old, you can always stick a slice in the toaster, top with a dollop of Samoa Cookie ice cream, and douse it in strawberry syrup. It will cheer you up, I promise!

Sunday Happies

Mimi's grapefruit sugar


My Cookie Helper (she's great at licking the beaters)

Spring Decorating

Even if I've shown you this before, I have to do it again. These canvases just make me so happy! (From left to right, Mimi, Ernie, and me.) I still have my fantastic flower garland up, it makes me so happy too! I have a boom box, too. What do you call those things? My sister bought it for me when I spent a summer away from home- I was a crazy kid, I know. I'd finished two years of community college, and didn't have any summer plans before my junior year started at the University. Wouldn't you have spent the summer at BYU too? I don't know if you still can, but I was able to attend for a summer quarter without every applying to BYU. I took pottery, teachings of our prophets, genealogy, piano lessons...all things I either couldn't take at UW, or would never have time to take! It was a fun summer, but really weird too- I was in a freshman dorm, and technically they were my age, but....I didn't really fit in :) To this day I still don't know how to properly blow dry or curl my hair, and those girls had turned it into a life style, they could spend HOURS every day getting ready!

We love our globe, it was a Christmas gift from Santa for Wonder Daddy. The flower picture was from a rummage sale at a retirement home in Seattle- my grandma and I went to meet a friend of hers for lunch year and years and years ago. Probably 15 years now. It's hand painted, and I love it. I think I bought it for a dollar, and just couldn't bear to leave it there. I thought about who might have painted it, if the artist still lived at the home, or if a child or friend had painted it as a gift.... there's another picture I picked up that day, it's hanging in my daughters' room. The frames could use some love. (The little gadget thing is a thermometer reader- the sensor is in the greenhouse, it's so much fun to see what the temperature is down there!)

The Spring Event

To properly celebrate the official arrival of Spring, we had some friends over for our Spring Event! Half class party, half playtime free-for-all, Ernie really looks forward to our seasonal "Events." To keep tiny fingers occupied, we made a sticky collage garland of backwards facing packing tape, with a bowl of crepe paper confetti.

We hung our rainbow order streamers, and later everyone chose their favorite color streamer for some fancy dancing (and fancy freezing into fancy poses.)

All the kids decorated paper sacks for our egg hunt- a neat trick I learned from another mom, there was the same number of eggs for each child, and every egg had a symbol on it. Mimi's sack had a smiley face, and so she picked up all her smiley face eggs. And so on. It makes the hunt last a little longer, and puts big and little kids on a more even playing field. Plus, I didn't have to *hide* 60 eggs, I could drop clumps of eggs in the corners and on chairs, and it was just as fun.  All of Ernie's friends have siblings about Mimi's age, so these parties always end up being two in one. It's hard to keep two distinct age groups occupied with the same activities! We ended with sandwiches cut into fancy shapes, slices of apple, and fancy "ice cream parfaits" just like in Ernie's "Fancy Nancy" cookbook.

Happy Spring everyone!

Monday

Did you all have a nice weekend?  I did!  FOUR sessions of a church conference in two days....8 hours of listening to amazing speakers...I loved it.  I love listening to it at home, so that if something really catches my fancy, I can rewind just a bit to listen to it again!  If you ever wonder why we're so bent on proselyting and missionary work...imagine that you just discovered the most AMAZING chocolate cake in the world, and you're in a country that hasn't even tasted chocolate.  I mean, wouldn't you run around telling as many people as you could, asking if they wanted to take a bite of your cake?  Or just pass out the recipe?

Haha.  OK, the metaphor is a stretch, I know, but now my notes are where I can find them again!  And if you're ever curious what a prophet would say NOW....he said to be nice.  

If you're here for updates on Mr. Man, he does a lot of this:

And then this:

Followed shortly by this:

Hello, big eyes!  We've made it two months...I *think* the family is adjusting.  It feels like we are, but it's been rocky.  It would have been BOULDERY without amazing family swooping in to help, from yard work and house work, to just playing with the girls or being there for me to talk to.  The big kid isn't out of the woods yet in her adjustment period- we spent hours at the pediatrician's today, taking blood samples and x-rays, and then coming back a few hours later with poo cups (HOORAY!)  I tell you, I was so proud of that girl for how well she did today.  If we'd been just a bit earlier in the day, we would have driven straight to the store for her long requested Pillow Pet.

 As it was, I let her have a LOT of time with my my new-to-me i-thingy (what do you call an iPhone that isn't being used as a phone, so it now effectively an iPod Touch?  That's what I have.)  I doodled around on it yesterday, and made it to the third level of Angry Birds.  She threw birds so well today, she nearly finished level five.  Hmmph.

In other news, I'm not looking so hot.  BUT, I show you this picture so that I have the highest level of motivation possible....to NOT look like this any longer than I have to!  Ha.  Two years ago I started jogging, and now I can just speed walk that same route, but it will come!  Anyone else looking to make some changes this year?  I could use a support group!  Oh come on, it will be fun!  We'll tell each other what we weigh!  Heehee...

Sunday Afternoon Session Live Blogging

Elder Richard G. Scott

• Play with our children, ENJOY it
• "If you want to have a wonderful wife, you need her to see you as a wonderful man and prospective husband"
• Never have a conversation you wouldn't want your spouse to overhear
• Kind and supportive to children?
• Men, do you lead family in prayer and scripture, or does wife fill in your gaps?
• Men, do you tell your wife you love her?  You  need to tell her- she will be blessed for your assurance and gratitude.
• Pure love is incomparable, potent power for good.  Righteous love is necessary for a successful marriage.
• Mothers have instincts to know special needs of children.
• Need to go back and read this one...with a highlighter!
• He truly and deeply loves his late wife, Jenine.  So sweet to hear.
• "I am confident that when we are reunited, we will be even more in love because of this time we have spent separated by the veil."  

Elder Todd D. Christoferson

• Heavenly Father has high expectations of us, to make our transformation possible into something better
• Gospel requirements are not a list of deposits to be made, it's a way to become what God desires us to become.
• Willingly accept and seek correction.
• Who the Lord loveth, He chasteneth.  Difficult to endure, shows He loves us.
• Chastening: Persuade to repent, refine and sanctify, redirect course
• We must listen to those in authority to chasten us, or they will stop trying.  
• It occurs to me that I must be as excellent as I can, no matter my surroundings.  

Carl B. Pratt

• When we keep commandments we are blessed
• Tithing- be honest and pay our debts to the Lord.  All He asks is 10%
• Pay it first and quickly.
• Tithing is about faith, not money

Lynn G. Robbins

• To become like Christ, we must do what Christ did
• Teach children to be like Christ
• Don't correct symptoms (fighting) correct attributes (patience and love)
• Persuasion, long-suffering, kindness, knowledge
• Don't label children- separate acts from identity
• Need to read this one again

Benjamin deHoyos

• Christ suffered according to the flesh, so He could know how to succor his people according to the flesh.
• No matter the challenges that surround us, doctrines of atonement will give us peace and strength
• Know that it is the Lord who has sustained us

C. Scott Grow (I adore his name :)

• Told the story of his brother- made mistakes as a young man, lost church membership, health, and marriage.  After a decade came home, repented, re-gained church membership.  Re-married.  Died recently.
• Grateful for repentance and atonement.
• Christ atoned for sins, pains, sorrows.  Heals the sinner and the innocent.
• There is no sin, transgression, pain, sorrow atonement can't heal (except sons of perdition)
• Satan tells us we are lost.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

• Reflect on messages of conference, and what conference is,
• We testify that God lives and that He speaks.  Counsel we've heard is under direction of the Holy Spirit and will and voice of the Lord.
• No speakers have been assigned a topic.  
• Preach repentance, good tidings, and bind up the broken hearted.  Proclaim liberty to the captives, unsearchable riches of Christ.
• "Apparently the gospel is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable."  :)

President Thomas S. Monson

• Read and study messages when we receive the Ensign magazine
• Be good citizens and neighbors
• examples of honesty and integrity
• Bore his testimony of Christ

Sunday Morning Session Live Blogging

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf (personal testimony, missionary work)

• Don't look for a dramatic event to convince you to believe
• If you look to believe in Christ, you will find Him
• "Strive to be among those the Lord can rely on."
• Think of others, don't miss most prfound experiences
• God notices and minds us, meets needs through others.  We cananswer others prayers
• Be on feet to meet needs, after knees
• By being answer to others prayers, we find answers to our own
• Some would rather pull a handcart than bring up gospel.  We have a GLAD message!

Paul V. Johnson (Trials)

• No trial we endure is wasted: builds character, makes us more charitable
• Trials precede blessings
• Growth can't come by taking the easy way
• Not one of our trials is beyond our limits, BECAUSE WE HAVE CHRIST'S HELP

H. David Burton (Presiding Bishop) (Church welfare program)

• The Church of Christ is interested in the temporal welfare of man.  Can not receive message of gospel until temporal help is received!
• As long as we have resources, we will not let you go without food, clothing, shelter
• Personal responsibility and self-reliance
• We do not help people, but help people help themselves
• Self-reliance is a result of provident living.  As much as you can, assume responsibility 
• avoid debt, be thrifty, prepare for bad times, follow the prophet, know needs vs. wants, live accordingly
• Society is woven from charity
• 75th anniversary of church welfare program

Silvia H. Alred (Service)

• Love and serve one another: essence of discipleship, purpose of the church of Christ
• Did anyone else just hear her say to help families of hungry bears?  Was it humble prayers?
• When members do all they can to meet their own needs, the Church stands ready to help.  (I've been president of the Relief Society before, in a previous ward.  This is SO TRUE.  It's a beautiful thing to see.  Relief Society is our women's organization, but it was organized to be a charitable organization.)

Elder David A. Bednar (Revelation)

• We can receive revelation if we ask in faith, with an honest heart, believing that we'll receive.
• How can we reject Devil's enticements, to be more receptive to the spirit?
• Some are immediate, intense (turn on a light bulb)
• Some gradual, in small increments. According to desire, worthiness, preparation (sun rising)
• I just realized how I can receive revelation as a mother.
• Don't underestimate your spiritual capacity because you don't receive huge, striking experiences.
• Picture a sun rising in the fog: sometimes you don't know you've been receiving revelation
• \

Choir: "Have I Done Any Good" (I see a LOOOT of new faces today!)

President Thomas S. Monsaon (hooray!)

• Bishop has responsibility to care for those in need within boundaries of his ward
• Called as prophet 3 years ago, has enjoyed dedicating/re-dedicating temples
• 26 temples in construction, pre-construction stages!
• People sacrifice so much to attend the temple- stories of people who save for years, and travel thousands of miles.
• Temple work is ours to do
• Always be worthy to go to the temple
• Have a picture of the temple in every bed room?  Children learn it is part of their lives.
• Rome temple being built in one of the most historic cities in the world- apostles taught and were martyred there.  
• Make sacrifices necessary to attend temple, have spirit of the temple in our hearts and homes.

Choir:  "The Spirit of God" opened with an amazing men's trio- fantastic arrangement!

Saturday Afternoon Session Live Blogging

(This session is during the kids' naps...obviously, I'm taking *better* notes!)

Music by a combined choir from BYU Idaho

"How Firm A Foundation"

Report from Church Audit: Contributions, expenditures, assets recorded and administered accorded to GAAP, church policies, etc

December 31st 2010:

• 2,896 stakes 
• 340 missions 
• 614 districts
• 28,660 wards and branches
• 14,131,467 members
• 120,528 new children of record (children born to members)
• 273,814 converts
• 52,225 missionaries
• 20,813 church service missionaries (many live at home)
• New Temples: Vancouver BC, Gila Valley AZ, Cebu City Phillipines, Kiev Ukraine (Laie, HI was re-dedicated
• 134 temples in operation
• Of note: Arnold Friburg has passed away (among many other former church leaders).  He was an artist

Choir: "How Great the Wisdom and the Love"

Elder Boyd K. Packer (President of the Quorum of the Twelve, or the most senior member) (Man, he gave a solid synopsis of our religion!  I love to hear him speak.)

• Scriptures: Bible, Book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price, Doctrine and Covenenants
• We are called "Mormons" by many we don't resent it, but it's not accurate.  We call ourselves "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" or "Latter-day Saints."  
• "We talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies that our children may know to whom they may look for a remission of their sins" (2 Nephi 25:26)
• Same church organization as at Christ's time: 12 apostles given gift of Holy Ghost, commanded to baptize and confer the gift Holy Ghost.  After they died, there were no more apostles on the earth.
• priesthood restored 1829 by John the Baptist, by apostles Peter, James, and John.  To understand us, you must accept this.
• No coffee, tea, tobacco "Receive health in their navel, run and not be weary, walk and not faint, receive... hidden treasures of knowledge"
• Procreation only between man and woman, husband and wife.  Only graver sin is shedding innocent blood or denying the Holy Ghost.
• We must and we can resist all temptations.
• Plan of happiness centers on family life, husband is head of home, wife is heart of home.
• Latter-day Saint Man: family man, faithful in gospel, husband, father, reveres womanhood
• Latter-day Saint Wife sustains husband
• both nurture spiritual growth
• Love all, frankly forgive.
• don't take offense.  "leave it alone"
• don't condemn God for man's mistakes. We are all ordinary.
• Forget your burdens, a lot of forgetting, a little repenting

Elder Russel M. Nelson (He was a heart surgeon who pioneered some of our modern methods- I love to hear him talk because you can tell how much he LOVES people.)

• Thank you for serving in your families and communities
• We live to die, and we die to live again.
• Only premature death is of one unprepared to meet God
• Don't let fears displace faith
• teach children faith
• don't follow "cafeteria approach" to obedience: can't pick and choose which commandments to follow!
• It takes faith, and keeping commandments will strengthen faith
• God's angels are on call to help us!!
• Believe God: he will hear your prayers
• It takes faith to tithe...and then tithing becomes a precious priviledge
• "Tithing will keep your name among the rolls of God, and protect you in the days of burning and vengeance ahead"
• We will suffer persecution: will you be crushed, or motivated to be exemplary
• "We don't not life to fight life's battles alone"
• "I the Lord will fight their battles, and their children's, and their children's children's to the third and fourth generation"

Choir and Congregation: "Press Forward Saints"

Richard J. Maynes

• Selfishness, greed, pornography: Satan's tools
• Satan doing everything he can to destroy the family, does not want us to be happy
• There is power in establishing "celestial traditions" in home: things that strengthen us.  (FHE, prayer, scripture reading, etc.  Christ-centered home.)
• Teach our children faith, teach them of Christ

Cecil O. Samuelsen Jr.

• To gain and retain a testimony
• Everyone willing to keep commandments can have a testimony
• A testimony needs constant nourishment

1. Everyone has worth, as a child of God
2. A testimony is gained gradually
3. Grow from challenges, be grateful for lessons learned
4. Trust in things we know, to sustain in hard times
5. Hope, believe, and then know truth
6. Teaching others strengthens our testimony
7. Do daily tasks reguarly: scriptures, temples, visiting teaching, church
8. Don't hold others to higher standards than we keep
9. Being too hard on our selves just as bad as too casual when we make a mistake
10. Atonement is continuously operative

• We gain testimonies from doing things, and do things because we have testimonies.  CIRCLE!!

Elder Dallin H. Oakes (He's so matter of fact!)

• What do we desire, how do we rank desires?
• Desires, priorities
• priorities, choice
• choices, actions
• Desire for food, shelter, and sleep can all be overridden (Have a greater goal)
• desire, labor, faith to have promised blessings
• All who have temple marriage should do all they can to keep it
• Those who aren't married should strive for a temple marriage.

Elder M. Russell Ballard

• Don't ignore tiny things, looking for big ones
• Gospel of Jesus Christ is simple, no matter how complicated we try to make it
• "Love the Lord with all thy heart"
• "Love thy neighbor as thyself"
• Serve at home, at church, in community.  Be kind, supportive, sensitive
• Give service, serve missions
• Respond to friends and neighbors needs, many will want to know more about us.  Church will expand through love.
• Listen to promptings, who needs our help
• We can all do something to help someone.
• Most important gift is charity

Saturday Morning Session Live Blogging

Twice a year, the LDS church hosts a "General Conference."  Church leaders speak, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Sings, and it takes place in the large conference center in Salt Lake City.  There are four main sessions (morning and afternoon, Saturday and Sunday) and 1 smaller session for the Priesthood (men aged 12 and up.)  There is a special broadcast for the women the week before the October conference, and a special broadcast for the young women and leaders (ages 12-18) the week before the April conference.  The conference is broadcast all over the world by satellite to every LDS church building in the world.  It's also carried on cable (BYU TV), and is available to viewed live over the internet (lds.org.)  Archives are available in about 60 different languages, and more as written text.

So...obviously, I'm going to live blog it :o)  I'm here, holding a baby, the girls are sitting in their dad's lap, and I'm feeling very blessed.  If you ever wonder what a prophet would say now...this is it.  Everyone with an Elder preceding his name is an apostle.  Other men are from the Quorums of the 70 (they travel around the world visiting congregations and teaching).  Women's positions are noted.  This is a mix of thoughts that occurred to me as they spoke, and synopses of their messages.

http://lds.org/general-conference/sessions?lang=eng


**********************************************************************************


The opening song made me cry, it was so gorgeous.  It was new, and I didn't write down the name- I'll have to go check the archives.  Between the arrangement, the harmonics, and the acoustics in the conference center...tears.  It was that nice.

Elder Tom Perry:
Am I an example of the believers?  Do people see me, and think of Christ?

Jean A. Stevens, Primary 1st Counselor:

• Raising children helps us become more like Heavenly Father.  Too true!!
• Listening to her makes my sleeping baby smile.
• Children can be an example, in their pure faith and devotion.
• "Except ye be converted and become like little children, ye shall not enter the Kingdom of Heaven."
• "God gave us families to help us become what He wants us to be"

Walter F. Gonzalez:

• We invite millions to "Come and see what we can ADD to your lives."  
• Show our love for Christ by being kind to others
• Show our love for Christ by keeping covenants
• Show our love for Christ by making covenants, ordinances
• To remember covenants, attend temple, keep 

"I Know That My Redeemer Lives" (choir and congregation)

Kent Richards:

• "Pain is a gauge of the healing process, and also teaches us patience"

Elder Quentin L. Cook:

• LDS women are incredible: strength, virtue, love, willingness to sacrifice tor raise children
• Families and women have preeminent role
• Wives are equal to husbands, work side by side
• No woman should ever feel less because she's raising children, not working
• We should never judge if a woman chooses to work outside the home
• "The errand of angels is given to women...to do the will of the Father."

Choir "I Know He Lives"  So beautiful to hear this arrangement of the song E has been practicing all year in Primary.

President Henry B. Eyring

• Opportunities to help others in need
• words to "Have I Done Any Good"
• Feel sympathy, feel wake up call, act on covenants
• Bless children by letting THEM serve.  Let them carry the meal, pull the weeds, hand the fast offering envelope to the Bishop.
• Receive help --> learn to be self-reliant --> share excess
• "You can not give yourself poor in this work"
• Working together knits hearts
• Draw your family into work, so they can learn to help each other.
• Seek out the poor (and have Relief Society Presidents' help! :)  
• Plan Service Project: 1) Prepare yourself and those you lead Spiritually.  2)  Choose those whose needs will touch hearts of those who serve.  3)  Draw on bonds of families, quorums, groups.  Feelings of unity will multiply good feelings (??)
• "I love this work and it is WORK!"

"High On The Mountain Top" Choir arrangement.  TWO organists, E is impressed!