Stake Conference

Elder Klebingat of the Seventy and an Area Seventy, Elder Larkin, came to our Stake Conference and reorganzied the stake presidency. The evening before they had a Question & Answer session for almost two hours. We sat up close with the DeBurghs. Ross asked the question about "What does sealing mean?" and has gotten a lot of feedback since. After the Saturday meeting we went to the Claim Jumper with the DeBurghs and split an Ore cart (3 part dish) and then Spring and I split a dessert.

The Sunday session filled up quick. We had to park at the shopping center nearby and I think we took the last row of 6 there were. (Jill sat on laps). They even started 5 minutes early. Man, a regular stake conference is travel time for some and there are lots of sats, but when Seventys come, everyone comes! Mental note for next time: leave 30 minutes earlier.

I had ward council after the meeting and shared a thought about scriptures and how amazed I was at how quickly the men presiding could relay scripture references, could find answers in the scriptures and taught from them. They came more alive. I shared two quotes about scriptures from my email inbox:

Believe! Posted: 24 Apr 2017 10:03 AM PDT "Everything in the scriptures is applicable to our lives. The scriptures answer our questions, they provide role models and heroes, and they help us understand how to handle challenges and trials. Many times the scriptures you read will be the answer to your prayers." —Elaine S. Dalton, "Believe!", Ensign, May 2004 Topics: Scripture Study The Blessing of Scripture Posted: 27 Apr 2017 10:03 AM PDT "We were not there….Yet we know all these things and much, much more because we have the scriptural record to enlarge our memory, to teach us what we did not know. And as these things penetrate our minds and hearts, our faith in God and His Beloved Son takes root." —D. Todd Christofferson, "The Blessing of Scripture" Topics: Scripture Study After ward council I met Ross and the kids at the Parkers. Shanna and Tobin were in town for Hunter's baptism and we had lunch together. We played a fun game called Bubble Talk. When we got home we had a Nerf war (first it was parents against kids and parents were on 2nd floor) and then it was boys versus girls and Mom had the higher ground! Very fun. Lots of places to dodge and hide, but I had to come out every once and a while for more ammo. That night we did FHE (Jane planned it all and taught LOVE and we watched a Bible Videos on it and we played "Find the Heart"), Mighty Writing and dessert with scriptures.

8 Hours of Softball

Today was 8 hours of softball. Jane and Emma had a game at 9. And Abby had a game at 10, 12 and 2. We had the perfect parking spot at Mahany Park. We were near a play area, shade, the field, a drinking fountain, garbage can, the library and Little Caesars. Ross bought five pizzas and shared 3 with the team. The ate up in the dugout while waiting for their turn to bat or go out in the field.

Cleaning the Church

Jill and I went to the library on Friday, then Walmart and Smart & Final. I watched the finale of When Calls the Heart season 4 (yesterday) and was reading articles about the characters and from the director. After school we cleaned the house's main level, had BBQ chicken on Hawaiian rolls and cleaned the church as a family. We were in charge of all the classrooms (plus primary, RS and MPR) for vacuuming, boards and trash and chair set up. While we were cleaning kids were playing in the chapel with the wheelchair lift and now it's stuck. We called and reported it. Stake baptisms and stake conference are all Saturday. Oops!

Open House

We went to the kids' Open House at school and I took oodles of pictures. Fun to see what things they have been working on at school. We love Mr. Blake and Mrs. Beck!! 4th grade had a living wax museum. Abby dressed as John Williams and had a whole speech memorized when you pushed​ the red button on her poster!

Brett's B'day

Jill says she has a boyfriend and his name is Brett. He turned 4 on Thursday. Spring and Brett invited us to hang out with them at the mall-- to play and eat lunch. He got his picture taken and we brought a present--ball catch set, bubbles and masks. It was super fun!

Abby's Walk Thru Fieldtrip

• My parents left Wednesday morning, but left some magic cookie bars and a ring. Oops!!
• I completed a Kindergarten home project of mounting pages for memory books. Whenever Jane and Emma bring home that gold bag I tell them it's MY homework!!
• I attended Abby's 4th grade at-school fieldtrip. It was the Walk-Thru-California Presentation that lasted 2.5 hours and it was absolutely fascinating. The presenter was amazing and there were so many aspects of the learning--kids participating with expert words and racing to the chair after they hear their key word, gold RUSH of California with Eureka! (if the sucker bottom was gold), time machine learning with kids coming up dressed as characters from California history, team cheers (Green Farmers, Gold Miners, Blue Surfers and RedWoods!), building a lifesize map of California, kids coming to school already dressed in attire, spray bottle reminder for full-sentence answering and spraying the kids' heads prior to help them answer in full sentences, making sure every child had the chance to participate twice... it was awesome!! I learned so much about California. After Ross and I were talking about when we were in 4th grade and what we learned as kids. He was in Virginia and thought it was so cool that so much US History happened there. I was in Utah and thought it was cool so much church history happened there! Our kids are learning something totally different than we did. Who would have that?? (If you're Ross, you'd answer Steve!)

https://youtu.be/IIHwO7dx3Jc