conference weekend

I love conference weekend!  sadly, not in a dedicated sit-studiously-and-listen kind of way but in the way that I know we will get to see family and friends and its something special.  Even if we don't studiously listen to every session, there is a particular feeling to conference weekend.  And snow.  Always snow during spring conference.

Friday night, husband and I planned to go dancing.  But as we drove to our friends' house to drop the kids off, we remembered it was spring break and class was cancelled.  So we stayed and played with friends instead.

Saturday morning, I had kick practice.  (We are getting ready to launch a new release, we do this every three months.  It's all new material, usually introducing new moves and we build it up with kind of a pep-rally spirit to reinvigorate our classes.  But what's special about this launch is that it will be the first launch in which I will be instructing, rather than simply attending in support.  It's not a big deal, I teach twice a week now and would get to teach the new stuff in those classes.  But getting picked to teach at Launch felt like an indication from our team leader that I've improved and can represent us well.)

Saturday afternoon we went to the Treehouse Museum to meet one of my best and long time friends for a playdate.  She's my only college girlfriend/roommate that I still talk to regularly, despite the distance between us now.  She was in town for conference weekend and I was so glad we could get together.  I LOVE and adore her and have missed her so much.  Her three little boys ran around with my three little girls in one of the best kid venues ever created as we followed, chatting and catching up.  And then our wonderful husbands let us go to dinner together, sans children, for some much needed girl time.

We wandered up to my parents house to spend the night.  They were gone, having a fantastic time on a Hawaiian cruise.  So we let ourselves in, raided my dad's chocolate stash and watched Wreck-It-Ralph for the first time (so cute!) before crashing for the night.

Sunday morning, we lounged around for awhile, watching "Rise of the Guardians" (another first time viewing, and again, loved it!) and having some breakfast.  Then we drove to visit the Aunties and spend some time with them, as well as some cousins that were visiting.  We talked and played and eventually we all settled in to watch the last session of conference, followed by a family dinner.  We had listened to parts of the previous sessions, usually on the radio.  But we were able to sit and watch this session.  The girls' favorite part is our "conference cups".  We fill several cups with a variety of snacks and treats.  Each cup is marked with a keyword (Jesus Christ, church, prayers, missionaries, faith, etc.)  The girls have to listen for the word and each time they hear it, get a treat from that cup.  Lovely's favorite part of our visit was chasing after the pet dogs that reside there or had been brought along for the visit.  The two big girls dove eagerly into the toy room for awhile, then ran around outside with some neighborhood friends, talked incessantly to any adult willing to listen and overdosed on conference cups treats.  My favorite part was watching Lovely interact with a cousin just a few months younger than herself.  To me they seemed remarkably alike, showing a family resemblance and similarity in age and development.  They warmed to each other slowly but eventually started to interact and I hope they become good friends.  Her parents are wonderful, talented people and I love that they will have a playmate at family gatherings.

On our way home we stopped at the hospital to visit another cousin from a different side of our large and wonderful family.  Her little girl had been hospitalized with a respiratory infection so we brought some books and snacks, hoping to cheer her up.

And eventually we arrive home late at night,tired and worn out but renewed with the strength of family and ready for another week.