Spring Break and General Conference

April 1-7, 2013

Spring Break started out great. Monday morning Dave headed to school to get all his tests graded, his project fixed and resent, and videos done so he could enjoy the rest of the week without worry. I did the same at home getting the cleaning done so we could enjoy our time as a family and go visit Grandma in Idaho. But from there things feel apart. Paisley had been sick and we hoped she would get better by Wed morning so we could go to Idaho. By Tues. afternoon we determined that would not happen so we called and sadly had to tell Grandma Collier we could not come. She was sad, but also glad because she did not want to get sick herself. About an hour after calling Grandma Collier Paisleys cold turned into the flu. The other two followed suit in the middle on the night. We spent the next two days getting kids feeling better and trying to clean up after the threw up. It was not fun! It ended up being a 24 hour flu so the day they felt better we decided to head out to do some errands and go to lunch with my mom. We went to Hires downtown

The straw landed like that! 

For awhile now I have wanted to start seeing and taking our kids to see the things in Utah that are fun in our state. I had this idea before we had Oakley, but with a new baby it didn't really pan out. I thought with summer coming and Dave being done with his Masters we would start doing it. Since my mom works at the capital we thought this was the perfect place to start. So after lunch we dropped her back off at work and went on a tour. 

 The girls look a little bored here, but really enjoyed themselves. They loved the Gold Rooms and liked walking up and down the big stairs. I learned a few new facts I didn't know and enjoyed the tour the lady gave us. 

 This was not on the tour, but near the bathroom we used after it was finished. The way they make these panels is split them in the middle then piece them together to reflect one another. This one made a devil! Kind of freak looking hu! 

That night Dave and I feel to the flu and spent the next two days recovering. Not fun at all, but the girls found a way to pass the time with cheerio art and watching movies! 

Lilys 

 Kylies 

 Saturday morning we all felt better and woke to get ready for general conference. I have gotten some comments about why we stay at home and don't spend it with family so I thought I would share what we do and why. 

When we go to others homes for conference we find it difficult to listen and pay attention to what is being said. We found that our kids don't even up listening at all because they are usually playing with there cousins. If they are in the room I am more considered with keeping them silent then listening and again don't get much out of it. We found staying at home alleviates these problems. 

We start by setting the mood. We place these pictures up at the front. The girls watch for the particular speaker and his picture gets placed on the top near the TV. Once his talk is finished we figure out the theme of the talk was and with little buttons that we have put them on the picture to show what they talk about. Later when conference is over we go back and see what themes we used the most and what our focus should be for the coming months. 

 We bring the girls table up from downstairs and they each a notebook that is age appropriate. They get these the whole time and can use them for notes and coloring.

 Along with these two things I have created a conference box. Everything i need it already in there and all I need to add each time is candy and updated coloring pictures. I was grateful for leftover Easter candy and preprinted pictures to copy since I had been sick and was not able to do much. This box only comes out at conference and the girls look forward to the activities inside. 

There are about seven activities in the box and we switch with each speaker or as needed. Sometime the girls are enjoying one so much I let them keep it. As long as they are quiet and we can all listen to the speaker I am happy. Here are a few things in the box:

Bingo

 Candy word: during one talk they listen for these words and get the candy instead the bucket

 Church file folder games 

These are just a few them, but they work great. Saturday we have not found a special foods to have to go with the day, but we do brownies for daddy while he is at Priesthood and eat them as he tells us about what he learned and what the speakers said. Sunday morning we have conference cake. The girls help me and they look forward to it each conference. 

We have found by making it a tradition to look forward to our girls like general conference and get a lot out of it. This morning they were bored waiting for it to start. I love that. The way we do it makes it work best for our family and allows us to included our kids while also teaching them the importance of listening both days to conference. So thanks for understanding and letting us have these special days together as a family! 

Hope you all had a good week and enjoyed General Conference as much as we did! Lots of Love to all family and friends out there!