The Designated Tour Site

During my dad's trip to Utah, we showed him Bridal Veil Falls, Sundance & Aspen Grove, Maceys (home of the enormous $1.39 ice cream cone), In-N-Out Burger, Zion National Park, St. George, and Nunn's Park.  We will be adding Temple Square to the list, too.  So many cool things to see around here!

About Zion National Park

"If I were to live here, I'd cry every day because it's so beautiful."
        - Eliza

...pictures to follow...

Paint Job

This isn't a post about how Luke is giving me more trouble now than he did when he was 2 (and he's almost 3 1/2).  It's not about how he refuses to do things like get in the car until I've given up insisting that he do it, at which time he will do it.  It's not about how he terrorizes his sister with non-weapons-turned-weapons and prevents her from getting her homework done.  It's not about how he enjoys making messes of the scatter-a-roll-of-toilet-paper-all-over-the-upstairs variety.  Or about how he pours an entire bottle of liquid hand soap down the drain.  Or about how he enjoys using scissors too much.

Okay.  Maybe it's about those things a little bit.

But it's also about.... how in the world do I get WhiteOut off of this chair??

I suppose I should be thankful that we only had one little bottle.

And you know what, he's still super cute and fun and smart and I still love him to pieces.  I think that's what this post really is about.

Why Skimp?

We have a beloved tradition of enjoying a crepe breakfast the Saturday morning of General Conference weekend.  Nobody wants to miss this, so my new choir schedule has changed this from a breakfast meal to a dessert opportunity.  We ended up having crepes for our FHE treat the Monday evening after conference, and we talked about one of the talks from the weekend.

This was a typical crepe spread.  We had our usual Nutella, Biscoff Cookie Butter, fresh whipped cream, sliced strawberries, sliced bananas, and (new this year!) thinly sliced apples.  We usually enjoy Nutella or Cookie Butter with fruit, and maybe a little whipped cream.  But Luke decided he just wanted all of the non-fruit fillings together at one time.  Thus, the Nutella Cookie Butter Whipped Cream Crepe was born.  He seemed to enjoy it.

"We're just hiding!" - Luke

More About Conference Weekend

On a related note, the kids did pretty well watching General Conference at home this weekend.  They consumed ridiculous amounts of sugar and watched ridiculous amounts of TV (in addition to the 4 hours of conference each day).  But they also listened to the music and messages of General Conference, played together, made monsters and other shapes from Perler beads, drew with sidewalk chalk, and even created a swing set in the front yard between sessions.

I have to admit, the swing set is pretty cool...

Jack's First Time at General Conference

Since Jack turned 8 shortly after the April General Conference, this was the first opportunity he's had to attend a session.  I sang in the morning session, so Ben, Jack and I drove up together early this morning (leaving the house at about 6:45).  I went to get changed and rehearse with the choir, and Ben and Jack walked a couple of blocks to meet one of Ben's mission companions and his family for breakfast before the session started.  Jack was particularly excited about the breakfast, but said he was looking forward to conference too.

When the session was over, Jack said that his favorite thing about conference was working on the blank book I'd included in a little bag I put together for him, but that's okay.  We had a conversation on the way to Salt Lake this morning and I told him I really wanted him to pay attention to his feelings while he was at conference.  Tonight he told me that while he was there he felt happy, calm, and quiet.  Incidentally, I felt those exact same things during the session.

As much as I gripe about living in Utah and being so far from the majority of our family (and the beach), I recognize what an incredible blessing it is to be able to participate in things like this!  What a privilege to attend General Conference and the other wonderful events that take place in this area!