Happy Birthday dear Grandad...

We spent the weekend in Midway with Grandad and Grandma J. We just LOVE being up there--away from the big city (if you can call Salt Lake a big city) & in the beautiful mountains.
We got to relax, watch all the session of General Conference, and enjoy being with family (cousins included). And of course, yesterday, we celebrated Grandad Grey's 69th Birthday!

I had a few more kids to make this shot more interesting. I thought it was fitting... We love you Grandad. Thanks for putting up with all of our chaos!

Why I screamed out loud during General Conference

A Temple in ROME, ITALY!

Wowzers. I couldn't be more ecstatic than if it were in my own backyard!
I've dreamed for nearly 10 years for this day.
But the members of Italy have dreamed of this for a lifetime or more.

Some things just come naturally, and others...

...we have to really work at.

As you all know, my word this year is HOPE. I know that this is something that I'm good at, but if I don't practice it on a regular basis, I really stink at it. So I've been doing a few things to foster HOPE.
1. Pray
2. Read The Book of Mormon
3. Read the words of modern day prophets & apostles.



You wouldn't believe (or maybe you would) how much this has helped in my search for more HOPE. Incredible the difference that comes. If you have a chance to read, here are a few of my favorite talks from the last General Conference. The last talk was not given at General Conference but appeared in the Conference addition of the Ensign.


here, here, here, & HERE.

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten things that I am So Grateful for:

10. A Degree/Teaching Certificate: just recently Farmboy lost his job & we were in need of a bit of buffer. Thankfully, I was able to find a position teachingESL Adults in the evenings.
Thank goodness for Mothers like mine who taught me to be prepared!

9. Clear Sunny Days: Fall is still here, but fading quickly. Yesterday we were able to go to park & not freeze in just jackets!

8. General Conference: The opportunity to hear from modern day prophets.

7. Best Friends: Who call & wish me well on my first day back to teaching. You always know.

6. Reading to my kids: HY loves me to read to him. What more can I say?

5. Nonna: Who calls everyday to see what I'm doing. AND is helping me get some food storage in order.

4. A Basement: It may not be clean, but it's a great place for storage & helps the upstairs to not be so cluttered.

3. Mini-E: who can't crawl yet! Thank you sweet child for holding off just a bit longer.

2. HY: I love to see him laugh & try to make Mini-E laugh along with him.

And the #1 thing that I am SO grateful for:

1. Farmboy! He watches the kids every night, gets them in bed, & cleans up the kitchen so that I don't have a million things to do when I get home. I love you!

We Thank Thee O God For A Prophet

Today is a very special day. One of the most important days that I look forward to every 6 months. It's General Conference Saturday! Hooray. Now, General Conference Sunday is just as important, but for some reason, I've always thought that the best talks were on the Saturday Sessions. So far, today's talks have been exceptional. All lessons that I needed. Elder Bednar's talk on the Pickle Parable is one that he gave about 10 years ago in our Stake Conference. I loved it then, and I loved it today. We feel so blessed to be able to listen to the words of a prophet in our own living room.
I remember when my mom used to make us get dressed up and head to the stake center. Oh--what a chore. Thank goodness, I have such a wonderful mother. I look forward to these sessions not as a chore, but as a great blessing in my life.