General Conference

For the longest time we have followed in one of Jeff's roommates traditions and made waffles for Sunday General Conference brunch. It's one of my favorite traditions. I love waffles. This morning we went through two boxes of mix for all the people at my Mom's house watching conference. The first box of mix took Tonia about eight seconds to prepare. The second box took two grown men, over the age of twenty eight, each with bachelors degree (and one with a masters) about twenty minutes to make. "Wait, so if the box is sixteen ounces and it needs eight 1/4 cups of water, how many eggs is that?" Thank heavens they figured it out before we all starved. Most of the kids opted to eat outside-until a dead wasp was spotted hanging on the screen. Then they all tried to run screaming into the house with their plates and cups full of milk. Fortunately, when I threw the dead wasp outside they all came back and were able to finish breakfast. Hannah opted for some safer seating inside.

When conference was over we skyped with Dad-who knew they had real Raisin Bran in China? And that milk comes in weird plastic pouches? He was eating breakfast and we had just finished dinner. If you look on the right computer screen you can see my Mom's latest obsession-the bald eagles hatching in Iowa. The kids were pretty obsessed too-they watched her bring in a dead bird, fish, and start ripping up the rabbit she'd been saving. It's pretty interesting.

Conference was great, but isn't it always? It seemed like the themes this year centered around service to others, getting away from the technical world and down to what matters, couples loving each other, and family. There were a few other talks in there that didn't center around that, but I did notice a lot of talks about service. I especially loved Richard G. Scott's talk, he really, truly loved his wife and you can see how much he misses her. I also couldn't help but have a little twinge on my heart-every conference I realize how much I miss President Hinckley. I honestly loved him so much, sometimes it still doesn't seem real that he is gone. He was such an amazing man, and such a great example to us all. President Monson is a sweetheart, but I will always have a special place in my heart for Hinckley. One other talk that made me smile was Elder Holland's. I love how he is just so direct, "I know not everyone out here struggles with pornography other issues we address in conference. So find the talk that applies to you and listen to that one!" That cracked me up. I am really glad I got to enjoy conference today, especially with the family! That always makes it a little more fun... especially when someone else cooks!