Conference Weekend

We definitely put extra effort into preparing for this weekend of conference.

Eric and I, each Wednesday, read a talk from April's session (separately to make sure it actually happened, and then we discussed it later). There were more talks than weeks between the conferences so last week it was a talk a day, but they were all read!

We also tried during this last week to explain to our children what conference is.

We were at Eric's parents' home on Monday and his dad, Mark, asked Aaron if he knew who the prophet is. He declared that he did, and that it was Grampa Hornibrook ... oops. We explained that the prophet is President Monson and he would be talking to us about God. We mentioned we would come back on Sunday to watch it at Gramma and Grampa's house.

Later, we headed home and Aaron fell asleep in the car. When we got home, he freaked out saying. "but we didn't watch the God-man on Gramma's tv!"

Saturday and Sunday morning, we had a lot of fun playing together as a family and snuggling up on the couch.

 The girls and I even did our nails! 

We loved playing dinosaurs and cars!

 We even snuggled and ate popcorn from GP & Grammy! 

For Sunday afternoon session, I took Aaron and Audrey to Gramma and Grampa's house where we hung out with the rest of the extended family :)

Audrey loved spending time with Michael... and the horse she found... that's not awkward, right?

 

 I love these boys!

 

 Whenever the grandfather clock chimes, Audrey yells, "BELL!" and races off to do the "tick-tock" that Ana does in the movie Frozen

 Lunch was a fabulous taco bar!

 

 We did a cake and pumpkin pie for Sam's birthday

 Tyler offered to let each kid smash their face in a plate of whipped cream ... Aaron thought it was hysterical but chose to stick with it being sprayed in his mouth. Audrey, as you can see, helped herself to more cake...

 Even after the rest of the kids went to play, she came back for more!

 They would all climb up the slide together and when one of them slipped, they'd all slide down.

 Audrey loves playing outside! She often plays with the boys and Annie, but other times she likes to wander and explore all on her own. Taking time to wave at the other kids while she plays. 

 Jessica made a pinata for Sam that was pretty tough to crack - but the kids did a great job!

  

  

 The kids were pretty tired by the end (so tired that we wore a pot full of dirt as a hat?).

 But we weren't done yet! We still had to go to Tom's farewell!

Audrey slept in the car on the way there and Aaron was pretty tired, but they caught their second wind after multiple cookies. I love what they did when we said, "make a silly face!"

 

 Love this kid! See you later this week!

Then, tonight the kids and I were practicing the songs for the primary program using the YouTube playlist their primary chorister created. They are getting pretty good! As we sang "I Belong to the Church of Jesus Christ," Aaron sang the lines, "I know who I am, I know God's plan..." and he paused to ask, "Mama, what is God's plan?" I informed him that God's plan is to have us be a family forever and live with Him. Later, we were singing, "Follow the Prophet." The chorus goes, "Follow the prophet, follow the prophet, follow the prophet, don't go astray..." Again, Aaron stopped and asked what it means to go astray. I told him that it means we aren't listening to the Prophet or following what God wants. He pondered for a moment and then replied with this, "Oh, so you mean if we go astray we could get lost because we aren't following? And God wants us to be a family forever, so if we don't follow Him and we go astray then we won't be a family after we die?" 

I love how he's learning to comprehend what he's singing!

The Gospel is true!