What's Happening Wednesday

01. Made a craft at Super Saturday a few weeks ago. Took forever, but can't wait to show you the finished project after Christmas.
02. Saw Breaking Dawn as per tradition with our die-hard Twilight-loving friends. After discussing, I realized I really should probably read the books again. I've forgotten a lot.
03. Ran yesterday for the 1st time since the 5k. I'm REALLY sore today.
04. Helped decorate a tree for Festival of Trees this year with some ward friends. Those girls are creative! The theme was "A few of my favorite things."
05. Ryan finally agreed to go through his t-shirts, we donated lots to DI.
06. Got an eye exam. It was years overdue. Can't wait for my new glasses!
07. One of our 2 young women turned 18 and is now out of Young Women's. Sad day.
08. Did baptisms for the dead for the first time since being endowed. Very neat.
09. Had a new Beehive move into our ward. Excited to meet her and hope she'll come to church.
10. Ryan applied for his last semester of college!!! So much to do before February...

11/11/11

Two of my cousins from different sides of the family got married yesterday. It was a busy day for weddings there were brides everywhere. The Salt Lake Temple had something like 122 weddings and had to cancel some. Bountiful had about 70, I think. I know a lot of people had trouble finding an open reception center too. Makes me glad I chose Jordan River and was 1 of 2 brides that day. The temple workers knew me by name and I got their complete attention for myself.

We went to my cousin Tiffani's wedding in the Bountiful Temple at noon. She married Marc Bucher who is my friends husband's brother.  I was sad Andrea couldn't be there, but I got to meet Todd for the first time. My mom's cousin is Pat Holland, so we were lucky to have Elder Holland marry them. (more about her story here) It was the best wedding I've ever been to. He spoke for about 40 minutes and talked about symbolism in the Temple. He went through each phase of the endowment and related it to marriage. I wish i had a tape recorder because I learned so much! He made everything sound so simple. He counseled to be obedient and if we are then are marriage will always be ok no matter what happens in the world. So many beautiful things were said and the spirit was so strong. He said he maybe does 3 weddings a year because he's so busy and the church is not the same as it used to be. He joked that there are hundred of quorums of 70 and thousands of missionaries but somehow there are only 12 apostles.

I was so glad to be there and be reminded of my wedding not so many years ago. It was a great day.



Tiff's family


Some of my cousins, the Bills

Tiff's brothers, Steve and Mike

Family anxiously awaiting the new couple.

We went to their luncheon at Corbin's Grill in Layton. It was nice to be able to sit and talk with some of my cousins that I haven't seen in so long. Why is it that we don't see each other often when we all live so close? Lives get busy as we get older and it seems that Weddings or Funerals are the only time everyone gets together. Sad. I need to make a better effort to see them.

They had a ring ceremony right before the reception, but we had to leave soon after to get to my other cousin's reception in Lindon. It was a long day and I would be so tired if I was Tiff. Ryan and I had our reception the night before so our wedding day was very short, which we loved.



I didn't get any pictures of Jay and Katy's reception, but it was at a reception center called Bella Vista, and it was gorgeous! I don't see my Dad's side of the family very often and the last time was at my Grandma's funeral. They live in California, Texas, Idaho, Nevada, and some are spread out even further. I hadn't seen Jay since our family reunion in 2005. Although not very many family members could make it, it was nice to be able to see my Aunt, Uncle and Leithead cousins.

So grateful for events like these that remind me how blessed we are to have the Gospel and the knowledge of the plan of salvation and that we can have forever families!

General Conference Notes

General Conference came just in time. It was exactly what I needed to hear. I was lucky enough to be able to go to both sessions on Sunday with Sydney. We had tickets for the p.m. session, but not a.m. so we got downtown early and started asking for tickets near a corner. Some people nearby had just gotten some and gave us their sign to use. They told us that people loved their sign and they got 5 tickets. A few minutes later we got them! We've done it this way for almost every General Conference, so there's a nice tip for ya. You're welcome.

Some of my favorite quotes from this weekend:

"It is wonderful to have the means of instant communication...let us be sure that we do not become compulsive fingertip communicators. One that enslaves us to be constantly checking and sending social messages and thus giving the false impression of being busy and productive...as good as these things are we cannot allow them to push things aside of greatest importance. Let us be as quick to kneel as we are to text."
*Ian S Ardern

"As the prophet spoke I looked to him. He redirected my focus to look up to God.where i could be healed and strengthened through Christ's atonement. That is what prophets do for us, they lead us to God. ..he is also a wonderful example of living the principle of looking up. He exercises great faith and is filled with optimism and love for others. He trusts the Lord and relies on him for strength and the Lord blesses him.. if we exercise our faith and look to God for help like Pres Monson, we will not be overwhelmed, we will not feel incapable of doing what we're called to do or need to do. We will be strengthened and our lives will be filled with peace and joy.. Most of what we worry about is not of eternal significance, and if it is, the Lord will help us, but we must have the faith to look up and the courage to follow his direction."
*Carl B Cook

"The Book of Mormon is the best guide to learn how well we are doing and how to do better."
*Henry B Eyring

"He also challenges us to focus on Him, not on the things of the world. Where is our ultimate loyalty? Desire and obedience will lead us to Him"
*Dallin H Oaks

"Good leaders come from good teachers. Teach by the spirit. The Holy Ghost teaches everyone in a personal way. The Holy Ghost inspires us to act."
*Matthew O. Richardson

"Decisions determine destiny. Are we choosing eternal life? In reality we have 2 eternal choices. Choose God or the world. We can't have both."
*Randall K. Bennett

"Heavenly Father loves us so much that the things that are important to us are important to Him just because He loves us....but because He won't infringe on our agency, we must ask for His help. Honesty is essential in requesting things from God. For repentance to work it must be specific, profound and lasting. Doing things the Lord's way will make us happier. We must not only say our prayers we must live them. Prayer only works as we use it as directed."
*J. Devn Cornish

"Having the spirit is essential to eternal life. The atonement covers all unfairness in life."
*Quentin L. Cook

LC20 Girl's Camp

We have a small group of girls in our ward. There are only 8 on the roll. We love our little group and had a blast at camp this year. Our stake property still had snow on the ground so we camped at Jordanelle. We were miserably hot but had fun getting to know each other better and eating junk food all day long.

The Stake theme was V.I.T.A.L. signs (Virtuous in Though Actions and Language) and each ward was a different type of doctor. We were Podiatrists (Stand for Truth and Righteousness). For one activity we gave each other pedicures. Some girls liked it more than others...

We made these cute purses out of handkerchiefs..

and put them on our heads instead.

Despite our ongoing canopy problems and sunburns it was a great week. Two of the girls even volunteered to speak in Church! I sure love these girls..

General Conference

As per tradition Syd and I went to Conference together. This time; however, it didn't rain on us. It was actually quite nice! (Saturday, that is)

We lucked out and got tickets to both sessions on Saturday and a parking pass.

Last Conference, in October, we tried to meet up with my cousin, Elder Bills, at the reflection pool, but just missed him. I knew he'd be at the reflection pool again so between sessions I said to Syd, "Wouldn't it be cool if we just ran into him without even trying?" 

That's what happened.

I said "Elder Bills!"

 I don't think he recognized me at first. It's been a few years since I've seen him. It was so great to talk for a few minutes. He's been serving in the Salt Lake North mission and goes home in a few weeks. We even saw him again as we were walking to our car.

Sydney told me she had a "mystery guest" coming to the afternoon session. She wouldn't tell me who, but I had no idea it would be Joe. We went to college with Joe, in fact his older brother was Ryan's roommate when we first met. It's been 5 years since I've seen him! It was great to catch up.

I got these pictures from my cousin's latest email. He got in early to get a seat and sat in the 3rd row! He said he could hear President Uchtdorf's pen clicking.

He got Sunday afternoon tickets from President Holland.

(Side note: my mom is Patricia Holland's cousin so we have an IN)

i.e  my aunt calls his office to get tickets. She's closest in age to Patricia and they were quite close growing up. He also confirmed her a member of the church. 

See this post.

There is a lot of security and you can't go up on the stand and talk with the General Authorities unless they come down to you. He waited, but didn't get to talk with anyone. He saw Elder Perry and Elder Scott and also Mitt Romney though. 

I feel so blessed to live in Utah and to be able to go to Conference every six months. Some members of the church will never get that opportunity. I really love being in the Conference center. It's easier to focus, feel the Spirit and pay attention.

What great testimonies and messages were given. My faith is renewed and I do believe we need these messages and reminders. Life is hard and the world can be a scary place. The gospel is the MOST important thing and I know that our trials and worries and everyday stresses are easier to manage when we live obediently and stay close to the Lord.

Conference Weekend

My cousin Steven is in SLC on his mission. Syd and I had tickets to Saturday morning's conference (thanks for the tickets mom!) and so did Steven and my other cousin Tiff. Right before conference started i looked down and saw him! I got a picture for proof and planned to meet up with him after but he disappeared.

We planned to meet up at the south end of the reflection pool after the first session. We found my cousin Tiff but not Steven. I wanted to get a picture with him for his mom who we'll see in a few weeks. We waited for about twenty minutes but never saw him. Come to find out right after we got on Trax to go home Tiff ran into him. Just my luck.

We went over to my parent's house for the afternoon session then enjoyed a Ladies Night.

We went to Tai Pan and I got a new purse. Toni wanted to make these zipper bows she saw on Martha Stewart.

Pretty cute, eh? You could wear it as a brooch

Or in your hair

We loved holding this guy all night

 and i loved seeing my kitty

 Sydney, being the creative genius, decided she wanted to try making a zipper flower.

 In the mean time, we cooked

 Tada!

Not bad for their first tries, right?