General Conference Weekend Wrap-up

 The first few minutes of the Saturday Morning session.

 Little belly shot while I try and take notes.  

 Near the end of the first session.  Zack is taking notes, Matt is helping the little boys with their Lego Nephite city and Sydney is dumping crayons on her head. :)

 Austin has been doing really well practicing his letters.  I would spell the word that defined the theme of a talk and he would write it out.

 These handsome young men headed out bright and early to the Sunday morning session.  

 Beautiful Spring at Temple Square.

 Music and the Spoken Word

 Elder Perry!

 Mission Call Time!

 My baby brother sharing his testimony of the Gospel with his family and friends.  

 So tender.

 Sydney was exhausted and crashed on my lap with cake all over her face.  

I finally put her on my mom's couch.  She slept through dinner.  I love her little hands under her cheek!

Wow!  What and awesome weekend!!!  We spent most of Saturday at home watching General Conference.      The kids did really well.  Not perfect, but really well.  We drove up to my parent's house on Saturday evening, so Matt could attend the Priesthood meeting with his dad.  On the way we stopped in downtown SLC to pick up my nephew from the Conference Center.  He loved telling us about General Conference.  I dropped Matt off and then we stopped by to visit Grandma Sorensen for a few minutes and then headed to my parent's home.  They were not there, but I made myself at home :)  My sister and my aunt came over and we talked and laughed and ate some fabulous desserts from Kneaders.  We spent the night at my parent's house.  

Sunday morning, Matt and Zack headed out bright and  early for the morning session and Music and the Spoken Word.  The kids played quietly during the Sunday morning session, and I mostly got to listen.  We ate lunch with Matt's family and watched the second session at their house.  The final session is always so challenging for me and the kids.  I just want to listen, they do not and we are all kind of exhausted.  Thank goodness we can read and watch those talks over again.  :)

Early that evening we went back to my parent's house (it is so nice that our parents only live a few blocks from each other!)  to see my youngest brother, Michael, open his mission call!!!

Michael has been in CA all week on a Choir trip.  Is call has been patiently waiting at the house for several days.  He arrived home about two hours before he opened his call.  He had a huge group of family and friends there.  It was so neat to see all the Young men who either already have mission calls or are waiting for theirs to arrive.  Several of his friends also opened their calls yesterday and their friends just went from house to house supporting their friends.  

Michael has been called to serve in the Argentina Buenos Aires South mission!!!  A couple cool things about the call:

1.  This is the same mission my parents were called to when they were called as Mission Presidents.  Their call was later changed to Uruguay Montevideo West.  

2.  Michael is a fluent Spanish speaker.  

3.  Michael has lived 1/2 his life (9 years) in Latin America.  (Mexico, Chile and Uruguay)  It will be just like going home!  He is going be the BEST MISSIONARY!!

In case you are keeping track, Michael is the youngest of 6 (2 girls, 4 boys) and the fourth in our family to head out into the mission field.  He will be the third brother to serve in Latin America.  (One went to Taiwan, 1 to Brazil, and 1 to Mexico).   What a GREAT weekend!!

Here is a quick recap on how General Conference went at our house:  

1.  The kids were very well behaved.  I want Conference to be a good experience for them.  They definitely were not perfect, but they loved being able to build Legos and not just sit in boredom.  I kept a list of some funny things they said or asked about during Conference.

2.  I loved not having any treats available.  We had oatmeal cookies, fruit and water set out and the kids got a snack when they wanted.  They didn't miss or even ask about the treats we have had in the past.  

3.  I tried very hard to be sitting with them watching the whole.  Not completely realistic, but it worked pretty well for the most part.  In an ideal world, I could just sit and listen with no interruption, but I am not going to ignore my kids, either.  If one needs special attention or help, they will get it, even if I am trying to listen to my favorite speaker.  Shushing them every few minutes does not bring the Spirit into our home.  :)

4.  We listen best when we are at home.  Always.  :)  

I hope everyone who had the opportunity to listen took the truths that were spoken into their hearts.  If you haven't had a chance to listen yet, check out lds.org and soak in the words of living Prophets.