HAPPY TIMES!!!

CALLED TO SERVE!

A lot has been happening since I last updated my blog! I am not as consistent as some of you when it comes to posting each week! To begin with...Brett's parents received their mission call yesterday! They waiting until last night to open it! Wayne (Brett's Dad) had to keep it hidden from his wife (Dora) all day because she kept trying to peek inside it and they wanted to wait and open it when family members could be there! He said she was like a little kid at Christmas. Where are they going?......................

TEMPLE SQUARE in Salt Lake City!! They will leave August 11th and serve for 18 months! We are so excited for them. They will be terrific missionaries! We will miss them, but we know they are doing what Heavenly Father has asked! They are great examples to all of us! Plus, they are not too far away and we can drop in and see them! It will be a good excuse for my husband to stop by Cabella's!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

I LOVE being a mom! It makes me so happy to see my kids grow and learn new things! They made Mother's Day really fun! They make every day fun! I woke up to a hot breakfast cooked by my wonderful husband. The bishop cancelled early morning meetings and told the men to cook their wives breakfast! Great advice, bishop!! Brett is an AWESOME breakfast maker! Spending the day with family was very special too! We got to visit the Johnsons and the Poulsens and talk to my brother, David. He is on a mission in Japan! We really are pretty spoiled to live so close to both of our families!!

FAMILY TOGETHERNESS

A couple of weeks ago our snow finally melted and we were able to start cleaning up the yard. We rented a thatcher and thatched our yard and raked all of the dead grass and cleaned up around our property! The kids had fun helping rake. I love that part of spring...cleaning up after winter and it just makes everything look so nice! We burned all of the dead grass and weeds. Later that evening we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows! Days like this are fun to spend together as a family...plus it teaches kids to help work around home. I love doing it together.

BYU Women's Conference

I had the opportunity to go to the BYU Women's Conference this year down in Provo. I have never been to it before, but I know now I will be going back! It was an incredible event where you felt like every speaker was talking directly to you! President Monson was the concluding speaker on the last day...and what a treat that was! It was simply amazing! I went down with some friends from Egin and Parker. We stayed in hotel rooms next to each other and just had a great time together. The five of us from Egin rode down together and stayed in the same hotel room. Below is a picture of us on the last day!

Laurel Christensen, Bonnie Moon, Michel Rumsey, Me, and Mindy Herb

We had a great time on the ride home. We all shared what things we had learned in the classes we attended! They are great friends and such terrific moms and examples to me!

Here are a few things I learned or was reminded of at the conference:

• We all have more influence than we think. We are here to INFLUENCE the world; not to be led by the INFLUENCES of the world.
• The most important things we are to do are inside our homes.
• "ME TIME"...Does it include scripture study and prayer time?
• We mustn't wallow in our imperfections. We have to always remember WHO WE ARE and not WHO WE AREN"T!
• Meaningful experiences can't happen if we don't make time for them!
• Have more one on one time with each of my kids.
• Model our home after the Savior's home (temple):1. Soft voices 2. Everyone is trained in their responsibilities(Explanation, demonstration, complete with help until comfortable to complete by one's self) 3. Every day begins and ends with prayer 4. Kindness to everyone 5. House of order-orderly home invites spiritual growth
• Hug my mom more often and tell her I love her!
• We should find our "rules" or code of conduct for our family in the scriptures.
• Remind myself often why I married Brett...What made me fall in love with him? (That is a fun one!)
• Faith and fear can not co-exist!
• Teach children the hymns while they are little so in times of fear they will recall them.
• Having faith in Christ means having faith in His timing.
• If we don't take interest in our daughters-someone else will!
• Don't save things for a special occasion~Every day is a special occasion!
• Take the time to do the things that matter most. Don't put off the things that bring laughter and joy! One day each of us will run out of tomorrows.
• What's in a woman's heart is what's in her home!

The last one is my favorite one! It has made me stop and think quite often since I have been back from this conference and evaluate myself. Some conferences you go to you feel overwhelmed with things you need to work on. As we left this conference, a good friend of mine, gave us some advice. She said instead of going home and trying to change a lot of things or add a lot of things to our lives that we learned from the conference to just pick a couple and work on them really good! She is right...now I just have to narrow it down and get to work! :) I am so thankful for conferences like this that help strengthen my testimony. The spirit was strong there and it made me realize, as I sat in the Marriot Center with thousands of women, that not one of us is perfect and that is why we came to earth...to learn to be more like Jesus and to help others and learn from others! I hope I can be a better person from the things I learned at the conference! It was a BLAST!!! I know I have a Heavenly Father that loves me and He loves each of us! We just have to do our best each day and on the bad days say to ourself, "That is okay. I will try to do better tomorrow!"